Chapter 1 of 8

26 letters, 44 sounds

English writes about 44 speech sounds with just 26 letters. Every word a child decodes is built from these sounds. Tap any tile to hear it.

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as in pig. Spellings: p (pig), pp (happy).
as in bat. Spellings: b (bat), bb (rabbit).
as in top. Spellings: t (top), tt (kitten), ed (jumped).
as in dog. Spellings: d (dog), dd (ladder), ed (played).
as in cat. Spellings: c (cat), k (kite), ck (duck), ch (school), que (unique).
as in goat. Spellings: g (goat), gg (egg), gh (ghost), gu (guess).
as in map. Spellings: m (map), mm (hammer), mb (lamb), mn (autumn).
as in net. Spellings: n (net), nn (funny), kn (knee), gn (gnat).
as in ring. Spellings: ng (ring), n (think).
as in fish. Spellings: f (fish), ff (cliff), ph (phone), gh (laugh).
as in van. Spellings: v (van), ve (have).
as in thin. Spellings: th (thin).
as in this. Spellings: th (this).
as in sun. Spellings: s (sun), ss (kiss), c (city), ce (ice), sc (science).
as in zip. Spellings: z (zip), zz (buzz), s (is), se (cheese).
as in ship. Spellings: sh (ship), ti (nation), ci (special), ch (chef), s (sure).
as in treasure. Spellings: s (treasure), si (vision), ge (beige).
as in hat. Spellings: h (hat), wh (who).
as in chip. Spellings: ch (chip), tch (match), t (nature).
as in jam. Spellings: j (jam), g (gem), ge (cage), dge (bridge).
as in web. Spellings: w (web), wh (whale), u (queen).
as in yes. Spellings: y (yes), i (onion).
as in leg. Spellings: l (leg), ll (bell).
as in red. Spellings: r (red), rr (carrot), wr (write).
as in cat. Spellings: a (cat).
as in bed. Spellings: e (bed), ea (bread).
as in pig. Spellings: i (pig), y (gym).
as in hot. Spellings: o (hot), a (want).
as in cup. Spellings: u (cup), o (son), ou (touch).
as in cake. Spellings: a (apron), a_e (cake), ai (rain), ay (play), eigh (eight), ea (steak), ey (they), ei (vein).
as in feet. Spellings: e (me), ee (feet), ea (seat), e_e (these), y (happy), ie (chief), ey (key), ei (ceiling).
as in kite. Spellings: i (hi), i_e (kite), igh (night), y (my), ie (pie), y_e (type).
as in boat. Spellings: o (go), o_e (home), oa (boat), ow (snow), oe (toe), ough (though).
as in cute. Spellings: u (unit), u_e (cute), ew (few), ue (cue).
as in moon. Spellings: oo (moon), u_e (flute), ew (grew), ue (blue), ou (soup), ui (fruit).
as in book. Spellings: oo (book), u (put), ou (could).
as in cow. Spellings: ow (cow), ou (out).
as in coin. Spellings: oi (coin), oy (boy).
as in saw. Spellings: aw (saw), au (haul), a (ball), augh (caught), ough (bought).
as in about. Spellings: a (about), e (taken), i (pencil), o (lemon), u (circus).
as in car. Spellings: ar (car).
as in fork. Spellings: or (fork), ore (more), oar (roar), our (four), oor (door).
as in her. Spellings: er (her), ir (bird), ur (turn), ear (learn), or (word).
as in hair. Spellings: air (hair), are (care), ear (bear), ere (where).

The Sound Table: the 44 sounds of English

26 letters, 44 sounds