English Phonogram Reference

Each of the single-letter vowels A, E, I, O, and U represents a long and short vowel sound. A, O, and U also make a third sound which is called the broad sound. Together the single vowels represent 13 vowel sounds.

Phonogram	Sound	Examples
a	/æ/ - /eɪ/ - /ɑː/	mat, table, father
e	/ɛ/ - /iː/	tent, be
i	/ɪ/ - /aɪ/ - /iː/	it, ivy, stadium
o	/ɒ/ - /oʊ/ - /uː/	on, go, do
u	/ʌ/ - /juː/ - /uː/ - /ʊ/	up, pupil, flute, put
y	/ɪ/ - /aɪ/ - /iː/	gym, by, baby

Phonogram: A

Common sounds

• Short 'A' sound (/æ/):
  • When: 'A' followed by consonant(s) in a closed syllable.
    • 1-Syllable Words: cat, fan, map, sad, bag, ran, jam, hand, lamp, tack, man, can, bat, hat, mat, rat, fat, gap, cap, trap, wag, rag, tag, bad, mad, glad, black, clap, dash, pass, slab, snag, spam, span, spat, stab, stag, swam, that, track, van, wax, yap, zag.
    • 2-Syllable Words: apple, camel, happy, napkin, plastic, traffic, rabbit, ladder, wagon, basket, magnet, cabin, dragon, planet, jacket, hamster, cabbage, backpack, handbag, flatcar, sandbag, canyon, camping, chatter, cracker, drastic, fancy, flannel, granny, lantern, attic, canvas, damage, gamut, habit, lavish, magic, rapid, static, tablet, tragic, valid, absent, adapt, bandit.
    • More-than-2-Syllable Words: animal, calendar, fantastic, manager, analyst, alphabet, average, bachelor, champion, compassion, imagination, paragraph, anniversary, mathematics, happiness, atlantic, candidate, narrative, gallery, catalogue, capacity, character, classical, companion, dramatic, exaggerate, habitat, hazardous, laminate, magnificent, abdomen, advocate, aggregate, analyze, bananas, catastrophe, cavalry, elaborate (adj), enamel, exasperate, extravaganza, galaxy, inhabit, labyrinth, maximal, mechanism, panorama, reactant.
  • When: in ‘arr’ (alternatively, this can be pronounced /ɛr/)
    • Examples: marry, carry, barrel, carrot, harrow, parrot, barracks, marrow, arrow, barrier, carriage, harrowing, parallel, tarry.
  • When: in ‘ar{vowel}’. This pattern excludes words where 'ar' is part of an 'are' ending (typically producing/ɛər/). Alternatively, this can be pronounced /ɛr/
    • Examples: parent, apparent, character, clarity, rarity, parity, charity, marathon, parody, narrate, clarify, narration, paramedic, comparison, variance, aristocracy, barbarian, caramel, guarantee, hilarious, precarious, transparent, variable.
• Long 'A' sound (/eɪ/):
  • When: in ‘a_e’ or in open, stressed syllables
  • Examples:
    • 1-Syllable Words: bake, cake, make, take, face, game, name, plate, shade, grape, brave, wave, save, chase, space, case, taste, waste, state, hate, late, fate, male, pale, sale, tale, date, gate, mate, rate, ace, age, ape, base, blame, blaze, brace, cane, cape, crane, craze, fade, flame, gaze, grade, haste, lane, pace, pane, place, plane, quake, rage, safe, same, scale, shape, shave, slate, snake, stage, stale, tape, trade, whale.
    • 2-Syllable Words: able, basic, nation, paper, lady, favor, major, sacred, vacant, baby, crazy, data, famous, gravy, laser, lazy, mason, station, table, bacon, acorn, agent, apron, complacent, crater, danger, fatal, fragment, haven, label, blatant, nasal, pagan, raven, satan, savory, stable, staple, stratum, traitor, vapor, wafer, wager.
• Broad 'A' sound (/ɑː/):
  • When: in ‘ar’
    • Examples: car, far, star, park, dark, card, arm, barn, farm, garden, start, march, sharp, charm, cart, heart, apart, arc, arch, bar, bard, bark, charge, chart, dart, garb, hard, harm, harp, large, mark, part, scar, shark, smart, spark, tart, yard.
  • When: before 'lm' or 'lf' (where the 'l' is often silent).
    • Examples: palm, calm, balm, half, calf, alms, almond, qualm, psalm.
  • When: often occurs before ‘nce’, ‘nd’, ‘nt’, ‘ss’, ‘st’, ‘s'k’, ‘ft’, ‘th’ (British English)
    • nce: nuance, dance, chance, glance, France, romance, advance, prance, trance, enhance, entrance, lance.
    • nd: command, demand, reprimand, propaganda, expand, verandah, understand, slander, contraband, remand.
    • nt: plant, grant, slant, chant, ant (BrE), can't (BrE), aunt (BrE), shan't (BrE), vaunt, haunt, pant.
    • ss: class, pass, glass, grass, mass, brass, bypass, trespass, compass, chassis, impasse, surpass.
    • st: fast, last, master, disaster, castle, pastor, plaster, nasty, contrast, broadcast, vast, mast, past, cast, blast, repast, aghast.
    • sk: ask, task, mask, flask, bask, cask, grasp, clasp.
    • ft: staff, craft, draft, raft, after, laughter, shaft, graft, waft.
    • th: path, bath, rather, lather, math (BrE), wrath, psychopath.
  • When: in some common words/loanwords
    • Examples: father, spa, bra, lava, drama, pajamas, safari, ma (informal), pa (informal), haha, alma, armoir, baja, blah, chakra, facade, khaki, llama, macho, mama, plaza, pasha, papa, sonar, taco, gaga.
  • When: after 'w' or 'qu' (particularly common in many American English dialects, especially those with the 'cot-caught' vowel merger)
    • Examples: what, wash, squash, watch, quality, want, swamp, squat, wad, waffle, quad, quant, quarrel, quarry, swab, swan, swap, swat, wallow, wallet, wander, wasp.

Other sounds

• Short 'E' sound (/ɛ/):
  • When: In common irregular words (High-Frequency Exceptions)
    • Examples: many, any, said, says, Thames.
  • When: In words ending with suffixes ‘-ary’ or ‘-arian’
    • Examples: library, primary, necessary, ordinary, military, arbitrary, dictionary, contemporary, secondary, customary, librarian, vegetarian, agrarian, adversary, binary, canary, culinary, estuary, glossary, granary, honorary, mortuary, plenary, rosemary, salary, sanctuary, summary, vocabulary, voluntary, antiquarian, authoritarian, disciplinarian, humanitarian, libertarian, parliamentarian, totalitarian, utilitarian.
• /ɛər/ sound:
  • When: in word-ending ‘are’, ‘air’:
  • Examples:
    • are: bare, care, dare, fare, glare, mare, rare, scare, share, spare, square, stare, aware, beware, compare, declare, prepare, nightmare, welfare, flare, hare, snare.
    • air: air, chair, hair, fair, pair, stair, dairy, fairy, repair, despair, unfair, airline, airport, armchair, affair, flair, impair, lair.
• “AW” sound (/ɔː/):
  • When: before certain 'l' combinations;
  • Examples:
    • ‘ll’: ball, call, fall, hall, tall, wall, small, stall, thrall, install, gall, mall, firewall.
    • ‘lk’: talk, walk, chalk, stalk, balk, caulk.
    • ‘lt’: salt, halt, malt, alter, assault, exalt, asphalt, falter.
    • ‘ld’: bald, scald.
    • ‘ls’: false.
    • other: almost, also, always, alright, albeit.
  • When: in ‘war’ or ‘quar’;
    • Examples: water, warm, warn, ward, award, swarm, quart, quarter, dwarf, thwart, warden, wardrobe, warfare, warning, warp, warrior, quartz, quarantine.

Phonogram: E

• Short 'E' sound (/ɛ/):
  • When: 'E' followed by consonant(s) in a closed syllable.
  • Examples: bed, red, pen, hen, leg, web, net, desk, best, left, fresh, spell, dress, send, help, well, chest, mend, step, press, bell, blend, check, deck, dense, dwell, edge, fell, get, jet, lens, melt, men, mess, neck, peg, pelt, pest, pet, rent, set, shelf, spend, tend, test, then, wet, wreck, yet, zest.
• Long 'E' sound (/iː/):
  • When: 'E' at the end of an open syllable.
  • Examples: we, he, she, me, be, zero, meter, secret, recent, concrete, concede, impede, erase, debate, even, evil, genie, demon, regal, veto, allele, complete, convene, delete, ego, femur, frequent, legal, obese, precede, premium, senior, sequel, series, supreme.
• Short ‘I’ sound (/ɪ)
  • When: often in unstressed syllables or prefixes
    • be-: because, begin, believe, before, behind, belong, behave, beneath, beside, between, beyond, beware, betray, bewilder.
    • de-: decide, define, demand, design, develop, device, declare, depict, derive, descend, detail, determine, devote, defy, delight, deny, depend, depress, detach, deter, decay, deceit, debate, decline, degree, deliver, deluxe, deposit, destroy.
    • e- / ex-: exact, examine, example, exceed, except, excite, excuse, exert, exhaust, exhibit, exist, expand, expect, experience, experiment, explain, explode, explore, export, expose, express, extend, elect, event, effect, escape, establish, eleven, eject, elastic, emit.
    • en- / em-: enable, engage, enjoy, enrich, enroll, ensure, entail, entice, entire, entitle, entrust, envelop, envision, encourage, embarrass, embrace, emerge, emphasis, employ, embark, embed, enact, enclose.
    • pre-: prepare, predict, precede, prefer, present (verb), prevent, prevail, presume, pretend, predate, prelude, premise, preside, preserve, pretext, procure, precise.
    • re-: receive, remember, repeat, report, represent, require, resist, respond, return, reveal, review, revise, revolt, regard, relax, relief, remain, remark, remind, remove, renounce, repair, replace, reply, resolve, respect, resume, retain, retreat, react, recall, recede, reduce, reflect, reform, reject, remote, reward.
    • se-: secure, select, secrete, seduce, segment, separate.

Phonogram: I

• Short 'I' sound (/ɪ/):
  • When: 'I' followed by consonant(s) in a closed syllable.
  • Examples: sit, pig, fish, swim, thin, dish, clip, trip, wink, knit, rich, stick, gift, print, hint, big, milk, kiss, fill, dig, bid, bill, chip, click, did, dip, grin, grip, him, hill, his, ill, is, it, kick, lid, lift, lip, list, live, mill, mix, pill, pin, quit, rib, sick, sin, sip, six, skill, spin, still, thick, this, tick, tip, trim, will, win, with, zip.
• Long 'I' sound (/aɪ/):
  • When: 'i' at the end of an open syllable
    • Examples: lion, tiger, silent, vital, final, pilot, crisis, spider, fiber, choir (often /kwaɪər/), rival, siren, bison, migraine, minus, alibi, benign, china, client, climate, giant, hiatus, horizon, idea, item, iris, ivy, micro, minor, pirate, primary, prior, private.
  • When 'i' followed by a silent 'e' (i_e)
    • Examples: bike, time, kite, like, fine, rise, tribe, slide, spine, stride, twice, while, white, write, dime, alive, arrive, bite, bride, chime, crime, dive, drive, file, five, glide, hide, hive, ice, life, lime, line, mice, mile, nine, nice, pile, pipe, price, prize, ride, ripe, shine, side, size, slice, smile, spice, strike, stripe, tide, tile, vine, wide, wife, wine, wipe, wise.
  • When 'i' before certain consonant clusters like ‘nd’, ‘ld’
    • Examples: wild, child, find, kind, mind, bind, grind, rind, blind, behind, mild.
• Long 'E' sound from 'I' (/iː/):
  • When: Specific words due to historical usage (often French/Italian loanwords).
  • Examples: machine, police, pizza, radiant, magician, valise, sublime, marine, magazine, caprice, antique, unique, fatigue, oblige, pristine, quinine, iodine, regime, sardine, routine, bikini, boutique, casino, chic, gnocchi, intriguing, kiwi, linguine, mosquito, prestige, quarantine, ravine, ski, technique, zucchini.
• /ər/ sound
  • When: in ‘ir’
    • Examples: bird, girl, first, shirt, dirt, third, stir, firm, squirt, skirt, thirst, whirl, chirp, flirt, gird, birth, circuit, confirm, mirrored, swirl, birch, circle, circumference, circus, fir, irk, kirk, mirth, sir, squirm, twirl, virgin, virtue.
• /j/ sound (as in 'y' sound):
  • When: In unstressed syllables before a vowel (Creating a Yod/Glide). 'i' precedes 'o' or 'a'.
    • Examples: union, opinion, million, minion, junior, onion, pavilion, valiant, stallion, companion, billion, brilliant, bullion, canyon, champion, dominion, familiar, rebellion, senior.

Phonogram: O

• Short 'O' sound (/ɒ/) (alternatively, broad ‘A’ sound /ɑː/ in American English)
  • When: 'O' followed by consonant(s) in a closed syllable.
  • Examples: dog, hot, box, top, frog, stop, lock, rock, pond, cross, clock, mom, shop, job, spot, cot, frost, doll, block, soft, blob, blossom, bob, bond, boss, bottle, bottom, chop, clog, cloth, cob, cod, cog, common, cost, dock, dot, fog, follow, fox, got, hop, jog, jolt, knock, knot, log, lost, lot, mop, moss, not, on, odd, off, plot, pod, pop, pot, rob, rod, rot, shot, sock, stock.
• Long 'O' sound (/oʊ/):
  • When 'o' at the end of an open syllable:
    • Examples: go, no, so, hero, zero, photo, piano, tomato, potato, banjo, echo, halo, mojo, rodeo, kimono, auto, bravo, bingo, cargo, combo, disco, domino, ego, gyro, jumbo, logo, macro, memo, metro, motto, polo, pro, radio, solo, studio, torso, trio, turbo, typo, video.
  • When 'o' followed by a silent 'e' (o_e):
    • Examples: bone, home, nose, vote, rope, pose, rose, globe, chose, broke, spoke, stove, tone, alone, whole, close, code, cone, drone, drove, hole, hope, joke, lobe, lone, mode, mope, note, ozone, phone, poke, pole, pope, robe, scope, slope, smoke, stone, stroke, those, throne, woke, wrote.
  • When 'o' before certain consonant clusters ('ld', 'lt’, 'll', 'st')
    • Examples: old, cold, bold, gold, hold, bolt, colt, jolt, dolt, revolt, stroll, poll, roll, bowl, toll, most, post, ghost, host, roast, fold, mold, sold, told, comb, scroll.
• Long 'OO' sound from 'O' (/uː/ as in "moon"):
  • When: Ending in ‘o’ (Exceptions)
    • Examples: who, to, two
  • When: Ending in ‘ove’
    • Examples: move, prove, approve, remove
  • When: Ending in ‘omb’
    • Examples: tomb, womb
  • When: Irregular usage
    • Examples: lose, whose
  • When: Words spelled with double ‘o’ (often associated with this sound)
    • Examples: gloom, groom, spoon, choose, groove, smooth, tooth, booth, roof, soon, doom, cool, pool, tool, school, bloom, boot, boom, food, fool, goose, hoot, igloo, loop, loose, moon, mood, noodle, proof, root, scoop, stool, troop, zoo, zoom.
• Short 'U' sound (/ʌ/):
  • When: Before ‘v’ or ‘th’
    • Examples: love, glove, shove, cover, above, dove (bird), discover, hover, oven, recover, mother, brother, nothing, other, smother.
  • When: Before nasals (‘n’, ‘m’, ‘ng’)
    • Examples: money, month, front, none, ton, son, won, onion, honey, sponge, among, stomach, among, comfort, comfortable, company, done, London, monk, monkey, tongue.
  • When: Common High-Frequency Words
    • Examples: come, some, become, overcome.
  • When: Before ‘r’ (forming /ʌr/ or /ɜr/)
    • Examples: worry, thorough, borough.
  • When: Other contexts
    • Examples: comfort, wonder, color, dozen.
• /ɔːr/ sound
  • When: in 'or'
    • Examples: or, for, corn, fork, horse, north, story, port, short, worn, more, score, dorm, born, torn, sport, force, corps, order, organ, shore, ignore, explore, portion, author, actor, doctor, core, forge, form, fort, forty, horn, major, minor, morning, pork, porch, scorch, snore, sort, storm, swore, thorn, tore, torch, visitor.

Phonogram: U

• Short 'U' sound (/ʌ/):
  • When: 'U' followed by consonant(s) in a closed syllable.
  • Examples: run, sun, cup, bug, nut, mutt, jump, duck, truck, fun, hug, drum, blunt, flush, trust, luck, cut, puff, blush, club, bud, buff, bulk, bump, bun, bus, but, cub, dug, dull, dust, fuzz, gull, gum, gut, hub, hull, hunt, hush, jug, just, lug, lull, lunch, lung, mud, much, must, plug, plump, pub, rug, rush, rust, sub, such, tub, tuck, tug, up, us.
• Long 'U' sound (/uː/ as in "flute"):
  • When: ‘u_e’ or ‘u’ at the end of an open syllable PLUS yod-dropping (sounds /u:/ instead of /ju:/
    • Sounds where yod-dropping is generally expected (resulting in /uː/ for 'u'):
      • /r/: rule, true, rude, crude, prune, brutal, gruesome, truth, thru, rumor, brew, brute, crew, cruise, drew, fruit, frugal, intrude, ruby, rural, shrew, through, truce.
      • /l/: flute, glue, include, blue, soluble, allude, delude, exclude, conclude, salute, blew, clue, flue, fluent, sluice, translucent.
      • /s/: sue, assume, pursue, issue, ensue, superfluous, consumer (in some dialects), tissue (in some dialects), ensure, dissuade, suit, super, supreme, Susan.
      • /z/: presume, resume, amuse, abuse, infuse, peruse, diffuse, suffuse, contuse, excuse, contusion, enthusiasm.
      • /dʒ/: judicious, jurisprudence, judo, jubilant, adjudicate, jew, jewel, jewelry, juice, juke, July, June, junior, Jupiter.
      • /tʃ/: chute, parachute, archduke, capuchin, fiduciary, chew, eschew.
    • Sounds where yod-dropping is variable (often dialectal - more common in British English):
      • /t/: tune, student, duty, institute, multitude, constitute, execute, astute, tutorial, mutual, destitute, stew, steward, tuba, tube, Tuesday, tumor, tumult, tuna.
      • /d/: dune, due, reduce, introduce, dubious, endure, subdue, produce, adieu, overdue, dew, doodle, dual, duel, duke, duplicate, durable, during.
      • /n/: new, nude, nuance, neutral, nutrition, avenue, continue, immune, ingenuity, tenure, knew, newt, nucleus, numerous, nutrient.
• Short 'OO' sound from 'U' (/ʊ/ as in "put"):
  • When: Before ‘sh’ or ‘ch’
    • Examples: bush, push, cushion, butcher.
  • When: Before ‘ll’
    • Examples: pull, full, bullet, bully, pulpit, bull, bulletin, fulfill.
  • When: Common Household/Food items
    • Examples: sugar, pudding.
  • When: Other contexts
    • Examples: put, puss.
• Long 'U' with 'Y' sound (/juː/):
  • When: 'u' at the beginning of a word or syllable:
    • Examples: unite, unicorn, uniform, usual, utility, unique, university, union, unit, usurp, use, ubiquitous, ukulele, Ulysses, unicycle, unify, universe.
  • When: In split digraphs ‘u_e’ (u-consonant-e)
    • Examples: cute, huge, muse, cube, duke, fume, mute, pure, lure, compute, abuse (n.), amuse, dispute, duty, excuse (n.), fuel, fuse, human, perfume, refuse (n.), tube, tune, use (v.).
  • When: ‘u’ at the end of an open syllable (typically in multi-syllabic words)
    • Examples: music, human, future, humor, value, volume, pupil, museum, peculiar, visual, accumulate, astute, community, CPU, culinary, curious, duty, humid, mutual, popular, regular, secular, stupid, tubular, tulip, unity.
• /ər/ sound:
  • When: in ‘ur’
    • Examples: burn, turn, fur, curl, hurt, blur, purple, surf, nurse, curb, purse, murmur, burden, thurst, pursuit, surplus, burial, current, purpose, surface, blurb, burger, burst, church, curve, disturb, furnace, furnish, hurl, hurdle, injury, jury, occur, purr, return, slurp, spur, surgery, turkey, turmoil, urban.

Phonogram: Y

• Short 'I' sound from 'Y' (/ɪ/):
  • When: 'Y' acts as a letter in a closed syllable.
  • Examples: myth, lynx, gymnast, system, mystery, crystal, symbol, lyric, rhythm, syntax, typical, cynical, physics, cryptic, pyramid, nymph, synonym, syllable, hydrant, hyphen, crypt, cystic, cylinder, hymn, oxygen, pygmy, symptom, synagogue.
• Long 'I' sound from 'Y' (/aɪ/):
  • When: 'Y' at the end of a single-syllable word.
    • Examples: my, fly, sky, try, dry, cry, why, ply, spy, shy, by, fry, pry, sly, spry.
  • When: In a primary stressed final syllable
    • Examples: deny, rely, apply, reply, comply, defy, supply, ally, imply, July, untie.
  • When: In a secondary stressed final syllable (often verbs ending in -fy)
    • Examples: amplify, signify, certify, qualify, classify, modify, specify, ally, clarify, crucify, deify, edify, fortify, gratify, justify, magnify, notify, purify, ratify, satisfy, terrify, unify, verify, vilify, vivify.
• Long 'E' sound from 'Y' (/iː/):
  • When: 'Y' at the end of a multi-syllable word.
  • Examples: happy, sunny, funny, candy, party, story, pretty, city, twenty, busy, easy, friendly, wealthy, rocky, lucky, sorry, blurry, juicy, tiny, empty, ability, actually, any, baby, body, belly, berry, carry, country, crazy, cherry, daily, dirty, duty, every, fifty, forty, gravy, holy, ivy, jelly, jolly, lady, lazy, lobby, lovely, many, merry, messy, money, only, penny, pony, puppy, quickly, rally, ready, silly, sixty, sleepy, slowly, study, suddenly, tasty, very, witty, worry.
• 'Y' as a Consonant sound (/j/)
  • When: 'Y' appears at the beginning of a word or syllable, acting like a consonant.
  • Examples: yes, yellow, yard, yawn, yet, you, yolk, young, yummy, yoga, yam, yap, year, yell, yelp, yip, yo-yo, yogurt, your, yurt.

R-Controlled Vowel Phonograms

Phonogram	IPA Sound(s)	Examples (Expanded)
air	/ɛər/	hair, chair, fair, pair, stairs, dairy, repair, despair, airport, fairy, affair, airline, flair, impair, lair, unfair.
ar	/ɑːr/	car, far, star, park, dark, arm, farm, chart, garden, market, bar, bark, card, cart, hard, harm, jar, large, mark, part, shark, sharp, smart, tart, yard.
are	/ɛər/	care, share, dare, stare, rare, square, compare, prepare, glare, ware, aware, bare, beware, declare, fare, flare, hare, mare, nightmare, snare, welfare.
eir	/ɛər/	their, heir, heirloom.
ere	/ɪər/	here, mere, sphere, sincere, adhere, austere, sere, serene, chere (formal), atmosphere, cashmere, hemisphere, severe.
ire	/aɪər/	fire, tire, wire, require, desire, inspire, admire, suspire, pyre, spire, aspire, conspire, entire, empire, expire, retire, satire, transpire, umpire, vampire.
or	/ɔːr/	corn, fork, horse, north, story, port, short, worn, more, score, actor, born, core, doctor, dorm, for, form, fort, horn, ignore, major, minor, morning, order, torn, visitor.
er	/ɜːr/ (stressed) /ər/ (unstressed)	(stressed) her, term, person, serve, certain, learn, work, clerk, germ, merge, nerve, perch, stern, swerve, verb, verge. (unstressed) teacher, water, broker, after, better, brother, clever, danger, driver, farmer, faster, finger, flower, harder, letter, louder, mother, never, number, over, paper, proper, sister, stronger, summer, tiger, under, winner, winter.
ir	/ɜːr/ (stressed) /ər/ (unstressed)	bird, girl, first, shirt, dirt, third, stir, firm, squirt, skirt, birch, birth, circle, circus, fir, flirt, sir, squirm, twirl, virgin.
oor	/ɔːr/ or /ʊər/	door, floor, poor, moor, boor.
ur	/ɜːr/ (stressed) /ər/ (unstressed)	burn, turn, fur, curl, hurt, blur, purple, surf, nurse, curb, blurb, burst, church, curve, disturb, hurl, hurdle, injury, jury, occur, purr, purse, return, slur, spur, turkey, urban.
ure	/jʊər/ or /ʊər/	pure, cure, lure, sure, tourist, figure, future, capture, picture, measure, allure, assure, creature, culture, endure, ensure, immature, insure, lecture, mature, nature, pressure, secure, structure, temperature, treasure, tenure, torture, venture.
ear	/ɪər/	ear, hear, clear, fear, tear (as in crying), near, year, dear, gear, dreary, appear, rear, spear.
	/ɛər/	bear, pear, wear, tear (as in rip), swear, dearth, forbear.
	/ɜːr/	learn, heard, early, earth, search, pearl, journey, earn, earnest, yearn.
our	/aʊər/	our, sour, flour, hour, devour, scour.
	/ər/	journey, courtesy, labour, favour, colour, honour, neighbour, vigour, glamour, endeavour, armour, behaviour, humour, rumour, saviour, valour.
	/ɔːr/	four, mourn, court, course, gourd, porous, resource, source, pour, your.

Other Multi-Letter Vowel Phonograms

Phonogram	IPA Sound(s)	Categorized Examples (Expanded)
One-to-One Correspondence
ai	/eɪ/	laid, paid, maid, rain, train, stain, plain, faint, paint, braid, aid, ail, aim, brain, chain, claim, drain, fail, faith, gain, grain, hail, jail, mail, main, nail, frail, quail, rail, raise, sail, slain, snail, spain, straight, strain, tail, trail, trait, wait, waist, waiver.
au	/ɔː/	author, daughter, vault, launch, haunt, gaunt, autumn, laundry, fault, audience, applause, audio, audit, augment, August, auto, because, caught, cause, caution, clause, dinosaur, exhaust, faucet, fraud, gaudy, nausea, pause, trauma.
aw	/ɔː/	saw, paw, raw, claw, draw, straw, law, yawn, crawl, brawl, awe, awful, awkward, dawn, flaw, hawk, jaw, lawn, pawn, shawl, spawn, strawberry, thaw.
ay	/eɪ/	play, day, say, way, may, stray, spray, pray, display, okay, array, bay, betray, clay, delay, dismay, dray, gray, hay, jay, lay, pay, prey, quay, ray, slay, stay, sway, tray, today, yesterday, holiday.
ee	/iː/	tree, see, free, knee, bee, meet, feet, deep, sleep, keep, agree, beef, beer, beet, bleed, breeze, cheer, cheese, creep, deed, deer, fee, feed, feel, fleet, glee, green, greet, heel, jeep, need, peel, peer, queen, screen, seed, seek, seem, sheep, sheet, sleeve, speech, speed, steel, steep, street, sweep, sweet, teeth, three, weed, week, wheel.
igh	/aɪ/	night, light, high, sigh, thigh, fight, right, might, bright, tight, flight, fright, plight, sight, slight.
oa	/oʊ/	coat, boat, road, toad, load, goal, foam, loaf, float, toast, approach, bloat, boast, cloak, coach, coal, coast, goat, groan, loan, moan, oak, oar, oat, roast, soak, soap, throat.
oi	/ɔɪ/	boil, oil, soil, coil, join, point, voice, choice, noise, moist, adjoin, avoid, coin, foil, groin, hoist, joint, poison, spoil, toil, void.
oy	/ɔɪ/	boy, toy, joy, enjoy, annoy, destroy, loyal, royal, convoy, employ, alloy, coy, oyster, soy, troy, voyage.
iew	/juː/	view, preview, review, interview.
ieu	/juː/	lieu, adieu, bieux, milieu.
eaux	/oʊ/	bureaux, plateaux, chateaux, gateaux, flambeau, tableau, trousseau.
ould	/ʊd/	could, would, should.
One-to-Two Correspondence
oe	/oʊ/	toe, foe, woe, roe, doe, goes, hoes, aloe, oboe, cycloe.
	/uː/	shoe, canoe, manoeuvre.
	/ʌ/	does (verb).
ew	/uː/	flew, grew, blew, chew, drew, crew, threw, screw, strew, brew, jewel, shrewd, slew.
	/juː/	few, new, pewter, yew, spew, view, eskew, enew, dew, hew, mew, newt, stew.
ey	/eɪ/	they, obey, survey, grey, prey, convey, disobey, purvey, trey, hey, whey.
	/iː/	money, honey, journey, valley, chimmey, abbey, medley, donkey, hockey, turkey, alley, barley, jersey, jockey, key, kidney, parsley, trolley.
oo	/uː/	food, moon, spoon, room, cool, stool, school, tool, pool, broom, bloom, boom, boot, booth, booze, coop, doom, fool, goose, groove, hoop, hoot, igloo, kangaroo, loop, loose, mood, moose, noodle, proof, root, scoop, shoo, shoot, smooth, snoop, soon, spook, spool, taboo, tooth, troop, woo, zoo, zoom.
	/ʊ/	took, good, book, foot, wood, hook, shook, crook, look, cook, brook, cookie, hood, nook, soot, stood, wool.
eigh	/eɪ/	eight, weight, sleigh, neighbour, freight, reighn, feighn, skeighn, inveigh, deighn, neigh, weigh.
	/aɪ/	height, sleight.
ow	/oʊ/	snow, grow, know, low, throw, mow, row (as in boat), show, tow, pillow, below, blow, bowl, crow, elbow, flow, glow, own, shadow, slow, sow, stow, widow, window, yellow.
	/aʊ/	cow, how, now, brown, down, town, crowd, drown, flower, power, allow, bow (bend), brow, drowse, fowl, gown, owl, powder, prowl, row (fight), shower, towel, tower, vow, vowel.
ei	/eɪ/	rein, feisty, veil, weigh, heinous, obeisance, inveigle, surveillance, beige, deign, feint, reign, vein.
	/iː/	ceiling, receive, conceive, perceive, deceive, seize, leisure, either, neither, weird, conceit, deceit, receipt.
eau	/oʊ/	beau, flambeau, bureau, gateau, plateau, portmanteau, tableau, trousseau.
	/juː/	beautiful, bureaucracy, beauty.
One-to-Three Correspondence
ea	/iː/	eat, meat, clean, dream, teach, reach, speak, leave, please, cheap, beach, beacon, bead, beak, bean, beast, beat, breach, cream, creature, each, easy, flea, heal, heat, lead, leaf, lean, meal, mean, neat, pea, peach, peak, plead, read, seal, sea, steal, steam, stream, tea, team, treat, weak, wheat.
	/ɛ/	Before ‘d’: bread, dead, head, instead, spread, ready, steady, dread, deadly, lead (metal), meadow, read (past), thread. Before ‘th’: wealth, health, breath, death, feather, heather, leather, weather. Other: heavy, jealous, zealot, peasant.
	/eɪ/	steak, great, break, yea.
ie	/iː/	"I before E" Rule: piece, chief, field, believe, relieve, achieve, siege, grieve, brief, thief, belief, diesel, fiend, fierce, hygiene, movie, niece, priest, shield, shriek, wield, yield.
	/aɪ/	pie, lie, die, tie, cried, fried, tried, client, diet, dried, flier, quiet.
	/ɪ/	friend.
ui	/uː/	After ‘r’ or ‘l’: fruit, suit, bruise, juice, cruise, nuisance, recruit, pursuit, ruin, fluid, sluice, suitable.
	/ɪ/	Building/Lang: build, guilt, circuit, linguist, squid, biscuit, guild, guitar, quick, quill, quilt, quit.
	/aɪ/	guide, disguise, guile.
One-to-Four Correspondence
ou	/aʊ/	house, out, loud, sound, round, found, ground, mouse, mouth, cloud, about, account, aloud, amount, bounce, bound, couch, count, doubt, flout, foul, hound, lounge, mound, noun, ounce, our, ouch, oust, pound, pout, proud, rout, scout, shout, slouch, sour, south, spout, stout, snout, thousand, trout, wound (wind past).
	/oʊ/	Pattern: soul, shoulder, boulder, mould, poultry.
	/uː/	French/Loan: group, soup, routine, coup, toucan, souvenir, wound (injury), acoustic, bouquet, coupon, croup, journal, mousse, silhouette, tour, you, youth.
	/ʌ/	Misc: country, young, touch, double, trouble, couple, cousin, enough, rough, tough.
ough	/ɔː/	thought, bought, brought, cought, fought, nought, sought, fraught, distraught, ought, wrought.
	/oʊ/	though, dough, although, thoroughly, furlough.
	/aʊ/	bough, plough, drought, slough (mire).
	/uː/	through.
	/ʌf/	rough, tough, enough, chough.
	/ɒf/	cough.

Single-letter consonant phonograms

Phonogram	Sound	Sample Words
b	/b/	bat, big, bob
c	/k-s/	cat, cent, city
d	/d/	dad, did, dog
f	/f/	foot, fan, fit
g	/g-j/	big, gym, age
h	/h/	hat, hot, hen
j	/j/	job, jog, jam
k	/k/	kit, key, kite
l	/l/	lap, leg, live
m	/m/	me, man, mom
n	/n/	nut, no, on
p	/p/	pan, pop, put
qu*	/qu/	queen, quit, quiz
r	/r/	ran, red, car
s	/s-z/	sent, as, his
t	/t/	tip, top, to
v	/v/	van, vat, vine
w	/w/	wall, wet, will
x	/ks/	fox, box, six
z	/z/	zip, zoo, buzz

Multi-Letter Consonant Phonograms

Phonogram	IPA Sound(s)	Categorized Example Words (Expanded)	Notes & Context
Very Common / High Consistency
ch	/tʃ/	chair, church, chin, mach, watch, fitch, rich, catch, punch, much, batch, beach, bench, branch, chaff, chalk, chance, change, chart, chase, cheap, check, cheek, cheese, chest, chick, child, chill, chip, choke, choose, chop, chum, chunk, ditch, each, finch, hatch, inch, itch, launch, lunch, march, match, ouch, patch, peach, search, speech, teach, touch.	Most common sound (as in church).
	/k/	Words of Greek Origin: school, ache, technical, echo, mechanic, orchestra, scheme, psychology, chlorine, monarch, anchor, architect, archive, chaos, character, chemical, chemist, choir, chorus, Christ, chrome, chronic, epoch, headache, stomach, technology.	Common for words of Greek origin.
	/ʃ/	Words of French Origin: chef, machine, parachute, brioche, mustache, fetich, charade, schist, chanchan, schuss, brochure, cache, champagne, chandelier, charlatan, chauffeur, chauvinist, chevron, chic, machete, Michigan, niche, quiche.	Common for words of French origin.
sh	/ʃ/	ship, wish, push, fish, wash, rush, crash, blush, cash, shower, ash, bush, dash, dish, flash, flesh, fresh, harsh, hush, lash, marsh, mash, rash, sash, shade, shadow, shake, shall, shame, shape, share, shark, sharp, shave, she, shed, sheep, sheet, shell, shield, shift, shine, shirt, shock, shoe, shook, shoot, shop, shore, short, shot, should, shout, show, shrink, shut, shy, splash, trash.	Very consistent sound.
th	/θ/	(Voiceless) thin, path, mouth, breath, birth, earth, math, truth, north, south, bath, both, cloth, death, faith, fifth, forth, fourth, month, moth, myth, sixth, teeth, tenth, thank, theft, theme, thick, thief, thigh, thimble, thing, think, third, thorn, thought, thread, threat, three, thrill, throat, throne, throw, thumb, thunder, width.	Voiceless sound.
	/ð/	(Voiced) this, that, these, those, brother, father, mother, with, bathe, breathe, either, feather, further, gather, lather, neither, other, rather, rhythmic, smooth, the, their, them, then, there, they, though, thus, together, weather, worthy.	Voiced sound.
wh	/w/	why, what, wheel, while, when, where, whistle, whisper, whale, whine, wheat, wheeze, whether, which, whim, whip, whirl.	Most common in many dialects (silent 'h').
	/h/	whole, who, whose, whom, whop, whore.	Silent 'w'.
ph	/f/	phone, graph, rouph, aphid, dolphin, nephew, alphabet, triumph, sylph, camphor, amphibian, emphasis, graphic, hyphen, orphan, pamphlet, paragraph, phantom, pharmacy, phase, pheasant, photo, phrase, physical, symphony, telegraph.	Common for words of Greek origin.
ck	/k/	duck, lock, back, rock, stick, quick, block, truck, neck, kick, attack, black, brick, check, chick, click, clock, crack, deck, lack, luck, pack, pick, sack, sick, snack, sock, thick, track, trick.	Typically at the end of short vowel words.
kn	/n/	knee, know, knife, knit, knock, knot, knell, knuckle, knapsack, knavery, knack, knead, kneel, knight, knob, knoll, knowledge.	Silent 'k' at the beginning of words.
wr	/r/	write, wrong, wrap, wrestle, wrinkle, wrench, wreck, wrist, wrath, wriggle, wrangle, wreath, wring, writ, wrote.	Silent 'w' at the beginning of words.
dge	/dʒ/	badge, judge, hedge, ledge, bridge, fridge, ridge, cudgel, smedge, adge, abridge, budge, cartridge, dodge, edge, fudge, grudge, knowledge, lodge, midge, nudge, pledge, sludge, smudge, wedge.	Usually after a short vowel.
tch	/tʃ/	catch, watch, match, hutch, slitch, fitch, hatch, kitchen, witch, scotch, batch, botch, clutch, crutch, ditch, fetch, itch, latch, notch, patch, pitch, scratch, sketch, snatch, stitch, stretch, switch.	Usually after a short vowel.
Common / Moderately Consistent
-tion	/ʃən/	nation, station, fiction, action, information, condition, emotion, invention, protection, attention, addition, auction, caution, collection, construction, correction, definition, description, direction, education, election, exception, fraction, function, instruction, location, motion, option, portion, position, question, reaction, selection, solution, vacation.	Common suffix.
-sion	/ʒən/	division, decision, explosion, invasion, occasion, vision, illusion, fusion, permission, elosion, adhesion, allusion, collision, conclusion, corrosion, exposure, extrusion, precision, provision, revision, television.	When preceded by a vowel.
	/ʃən/	passion, mission, discussion, compression, concession, dimension, expansion, depression, apprehension, suspension, admission, aggression, commission, confession, expression, extension, impression, obsession, oppression, profession, progression, session, succession, suppression, tension.	When preceded by a consonant.
-cian	/ʃən/	musician, technician, electrician, optician, physician, beautician, magician, logistician, statistician, dietician, mathematician, politician.	Common suffix for occupations.
-ture	/tʃər/	picture, future, nature, creature, venture, adventure, lecture, fracture, culture, structure, capture, departure, feature, furniture, gesture, mixture, moisture, posture, scripture, signature, temperature, texture, torture, vulture.	Common suffix.
-sure	/ʒər/	pleasure, measure, treasure, leisure, exposure, closure, fissure, tensure, occlusure, glasure, composure, disclosure, seizure.	When after a vowel.
	/ʃər/	pressure, censure, commissure, tressure, fissure (variation), tonsure.	When after a consonant. Fewer examples.
-que	/k/	unique, technique, antique, boutique, pique, grotesque, burlesque, physique, opaque, mystique, baroque, clique, critique, mosque, oblique, picturesque, plaque, risque, torque.	Usually at the end of words (French origin).
gh	/f/	rough, enough, tough, laugh, cough, slough (muddy area), chough, draught.	At the end of some words.
	Silent	light, though, high, night, bright, fight, eight, weigh, height, sigh, bough, dough, drought, freight, neigh, plough, right, sight, sleigh, slight, taught, thought, through.	Most common, especially before 't' or at end of words.
sc	/s/	scene, science, fascinate, muscle, scissor, descent, conscious, plebiscite, obscene, evanesce, abscess, ascend, conscience, crescent, descend, disciple, fluorescent.	Usually before 'e', 'i', 'y'.
	/sk/	scale, scar, scold, scoot, scream, scrub, score, scape, scan, scum, scandal, scant, scapegoat, scarce, scare, scarf, scope, scorn, scotch, scour, scout, scowl, scramble, scrap, scrape, scratch, scrawl, screen, screw, scribble, scroll, scuba, sculpt.	Otherwise.
ps	/s/	psychology, psalm, pseudo, psaltery, psychiatry, psychic, psoriasis, psittacosis, psammoma, psychosis, psst, psyche.	Silent 'p' at the beginning of words (Greek origin).
pt	/t/	pterodactyl, ptarmigan, ptomaine.	Silent 'p' at the beginning of words (Greek origin). Fewer common examples.
Less Common / Specific Contexts
mb	/m/	lamb, comb, limb, thumb, numb, bomb, dumb, climb, crumb, aplomb, jamb, plumb, succumb, tomb, womb.	Silent 'b' at the end of words.
mn	/n/	hymn, autumn, solemn, column, damn (in some pronunciations), condemn, limn, kiln (older form), calumny.	Silent 'n' at the end of words.
gn	/n/	gnome, sign, design, reign, foreign, campaign, align, marignac, feign, gnarled, benign, deign, gnash, gnat, gnaw, highness, malign, resign.	Silent 'g' at the beginning or end of words.
-stle	/sl/	castle, whistle, bustle, hustle, rustle, apostle, bristle, gristle, thistle, jostle, nestle, pestle, trestle, wrestle.	Silent 't'.
-ften	/fən/	often, soften.	Silent 't' is common, though /f.tən/ also heard.
-lk	/k/	walk, talk, cholk, yolk, balk, stalk, silk (in some dialects), caulk, folk (in some dialects), holk.	Silent 'l'.
-lm	/m/	calm, palm, balm, psalm, qualm, holm.	Silent 'l'.
rh	/r/	rhyme, rhino, rheum, rhapsody, rhubarb, rhythm, rhetic, rhombus, rhodonite, rhizome, rhetoric, rheumatism, rhinoceros.	Silent 'h' (Greek origin).
zz	/z/	fuzz, buzz, jazz, frizz, snuzz, dizzy, buzzer, fizzle, whizz, pizza (in some dialects), blizzard, frizzy, fuzzy, muzzle, puzzle.	Doubled consonant; reinforces short vowel.
dd	/d/	middle, add, haddock, paddle, cuddle, huddle, fiddle, madden, reddish, muddy, address, bedding, buddy, daddy, hidden, ladder, odd, pedigree, puddle, riddle, saddle, sudden, wedding.	Doubled consonant.
ff	/f/	puff, stuff, ruff, scuff, haff (in some dialects), snuff, muffin, buffer, coffee, offer, affidavit, afford, baffle, cuff, differ, fluff, miffed, off, office, riffraff, ruffle, sniff, staff, stiff, suffer, traffic.	Doubled consonant.
ll	/l/	ball, fill, tell, bell, will, full, pull, wall, hill, fall, allow, balloon, bill, bullet, cell, chill, collar, dollar, dull, fellow, follow, grill, hall, hello, ill, kill, mall, mill, pillow, roll, sell, shallow, shell, skill, small, smell, spill, still, swallow, tall, well, yellow.	Doubled consonant.
ss	/s/	kiss, glass, miss, pass, dress, bless, gross, criss, muss, class, across, address, assist, boss, cress, cross, discuss, guess, hiss, less, loss, mass, mess, moss, press, stress, success, toss.	Doubled consonant.
tt	/t/	button, letter, battle, mitten, hutter, pitter, sattellite, witty, bottom, battery, attack, attention, attitude, bitter, butter, scatter, cattle, cotter, glitter, gutter, kettle, little, matter, pretty, rattle, settle, shutter, tattle, tattoo, tennis, utter.	Standard /t/ or Flapped /ɾ/ in AmE.
pp	/p/	happy, apple, slippery, cappy, hopping, tripping, shopper, pippin, snippet, puppy, apparent, appeal, appear, apply, appoint, approach, approve, flapper, kipper, napping, opposite, pepper, poppy, puppet, sappy, sippy, stopper, supple, support, upper.	Doubled consonant.
rr	/r/	carry, forrest, burrow, purry, sperry, terrible, furry, birry, scurry, marrow, arrange, arrest, arrive, arrow, barrier, barrow, borrow, carriage, carrot, cherry, corrode, curry, error, ferry, hurry, irregular, mirror, narrow, parrot, quarrel, sherry, sorrow, sorry, starry, stirrup, surround, terror, tomorrow, worry.	Doubled consonant.
nn	/n/	running, funny, dinner, winner, jonny, finnish, tanner, manner, grinning, banner, anniversary, announce, annual, beginning, channel, connect, granny, inner, innovative, penny, skinny, spinner, sunny, tennis, tunnel.	Doubled consonant.
mm	/m/	humming, summer, common, grammar, jamming, swimming, rummage, mummy, immense, gummy, accommodation, ammunition, hammer, command, comment, commission, committee, communicate, community, dummy, gimmick, glimmer, immediate, immortal, mammal, mommy, shimmer, simmer, summon.	Doubled consonant.
cc	/k/	account, occur, accomplish, succeed, accept, access, accord, accuse, accrue, accumulate, acclaim, accommodate, accompany, accurate, broccoli, hiccup, occupy, stucco, tobacco, piccolo.	When followed by 'a', 'o', 'u', or consonant.
	/ks/	accent, success, accidental, proccede (obsolete), flaccid (often /k.s/), accelerate, accept, accessible, accident, eccentric, succinct, vaccinate.	When followed by 'e', 'i', 'y'.
gg	/ɡ/	egg, digger, figgy, nugget, buggy, wagging, stagger, dogged, rugged, jogging, agglomerate, aggravate, aggressive, bigger, dagger, flagon, giggle, jagged, juggle, lagging, luggage, maggot, ragged, saggy, trigger.	Doubled consonant.
Advanced / Yod-Coalescence
du	/dʒ/	education, procedure, individual, gradual, codular (rare), perdure (archaic), conduit (some dialects), educe (formal), graduate, schedule (AmE), soldier.	When 'u' represents /ju/ and coalesces with /d/.
tu	/tʃ/	culture, picture, nature, venture, lecture, future, statute, virtue, punctual, habitual, actual, century, eventual, factual, fortunate, mutual, situation, spiritual, virtual.	When 'u' represents /ju/ and coalesces with /t/.
su	/ʒ/	treasure, measure, pleasure, leisure, usual, visual, casual, persuasion, osure (rare), disclosure, closure, composure, exposure, seizure.	Often after a vowel.
	/ʃ/	insurance, pressure, censure, mensural, tissue (BrE often), fissure (BrE often), capsule (some pronunciations), assure, ensure, issue, sugar, sure.	Often after a consonant.
-xion	/kʃən/	flexion, complexion, connexion (older spelling of connection).	Suffix. Limited examples.
-ction	/kʃən/	action, collection, perfiction, protection, direction, instruction, distinction, deduction, inflection, affection, abduction, attraction, construction, correction, election, fiction, fraction, function, infection, junction, objection, production, reaction, reduction, section, selection, sanction, suction, traction.	Suffix.