Alternative spellings of sounds

Many English sounds can be spelt in more than one way. The long ⟦a⟧ sound can be ⟦ai⟧ (⟦rain⟧), ⟦ay⟧ (⟦play⟧) or ⟦a-e⟧ (⟦cake⟧). Good spellers learn the choices and where each one usually goes in a word, then check that the word looks right.

Key facts

  • Long ⟦a⟧: ⟦ai⟧ (⟦rain⟧), ⟦ay⟧ (⟦day⟧), ⟦a-e⟧ (⟦game⟧). Long ⟦e⟧: ⟦ee⟧ (⟦tree⟧), ⟦ea⟧ (⟦dream⟧), ⟦y⟧ (⟦happy⟧).
  • Long ⟦o⟧: ⟦oa⟧ (⟦boat⟧), ⟦ow⟧ (⟦snow⟧), ⟦o-e⟧ (⟦home⟧). Long ⟦i⟧: ⟦igh⟧ (⟦night⟧), ⟦ie⟧ (⟦pie⟧), ⟦y⟧ (⟦fly⟧), ⟦i-e⟧ (⟦bike⟧).
  • ⟦oo⟧ (⟦moon⟧), ⟦ue⟧ (⟦glue⟧), ⟦ew⟧ (⟦new⟧); ⟦ow⟧ (⟦cow⟧), ⟦ou⟧ (⟦house⟧); ⟦er⟧ (⟦her⟧), ⟦ir⟧ (⟦bird⟧), ⟦ur⟧ (⟦nurse⟧); ⟦or⟧ (⟦fork⟧), ⟦aw⟧ (⟦saw⟧), ⟦au⟧ (⟦sauce⟧).
  • Position helps: ⟦ay⟧, ⟦ow⟧, ⟦ew⟧ and ⟦aw⟧ often come at the end of a word (⟦play⟧, ⟦snow⟧, ⟦new⟧, ⟦saw⟧); ⟦ai⟧, ⟦oa⟧ and ⟦ou⟧ usually come in the middle (⟦rain⟧, ⟦boat⟧, ⟦cloud⟧).
  • Not sure? Write the word two ways and choose the one that looks right, then check in a dictionary.

Worked examples

Example 1

Which spelling is correct: ⟦trane⟧, ⟦trayn⟧ or ⟦train⟧?

  1. The long ⟦a⟧ sound is in the middle of the word.
  2. ⟦ai⟧ usually goes in the middle: ⟦train⟧.

Answer: ⟦train⟧

Example 2

Fill the gap: ⟦pl__⟧ (you do it in a game)

  1. The sound comes at the end of the word.
  2. ⟦ay⟧ usually goes at the end: ⟦play⟧.

Answer: ⟦play⟧

Example 3

Which word has the same sound as ⟦boat⟧: ⟦snow⟧, ⟦cow⟧ or ⟦book⟧?

  1. ⟦boat⟧ has the long ⟦o⟧ sound, spelt ⟦oa⟧.
  2. ⟦snow⟧ has the same sound, spelt ⟦ow⟧. ⟦cow⟧ has a different ⟦ow⟧ sound.

Answer: ⟦snow⟧