Words you cannot sound out
A short list of very common words that have to be learned by sight, and how to learn them.
Why some words break the rules
Said should rhyme with paid. Was should rhyme with gas. They do not.
These words are very old, and their spellings were fixed before their sounds finished changing. So sounding them out leads you somewhere wrong, and no amount of trying harder fixes it.
They are learned whole instead — as a shape you recognise, like a friend’s face.
Learn them by writing them
Look at the word. Say it. Cover it. Write it. Then uncover it and check.
Writing is the step that makes it stick, because your hand learns the shape of the word as well as your eyes.
Three goes each day beats twenty goes once.
Notice them while you read
Every time you meet one of these words in a book, point to it and say it out loud.
Meeting a word inside a real sentence teaches you more than meeting it on a list, because that is where you will have to recognise it.
Look, say, cover, write, check
Reading a tricky word over and over does almost nothing. Writing it from memory does almost everything.
Look at the word. Say it. Cover it up. Write it without looking. Then uncover and check letter by letter.
If it was wrong, do it again straight away rather than later. The correction is the part that teaches you, and it works best while the mistake is still fresh.
Most tricky words are only tricky in one place
Said is almost regular: the s and the d behave exactly as you would expect. It is the ai in the middle that does something unusual.
Finding that one awkward part makes the word much smaller to learn, because you already know the rest of it.
Say the word, write it as it sounds, then compare with the real spelling and circle the part that surprised you. That circle is the whole thing you have to remember.
Worked examples
Why is said a tricky word?
It is spelled s-a-i-d, so sounding it out gives "sayed". But it says "sed". The spelling and the sound do not match, so it has to be remembered rather than worked out.
Answer: The spelling does not match the sound
What is a good way to learn the word they?
Look at it, say it, cover it, write it, then uncover and check. Do that a few times a day rather than many times in one sitting.
Answer: Look, say, cover, write, check
You try to sound out the word one and get "o-nn-e". What should you do?
What came out is not a word you know, which is the signal. One is a sight word — it says "wun" and nothing about the letters tells you that. Learn it whole.
Answer: Learn it by sight instead
Which part of the word friend is the tricky part?
Fr, n and d all behave normally. It is the ie in the middle, which sounds like a short e rather than what the letters suggest.
Answer: The ie
You write "becoz" for because. What should you do next?
Compare with the real spelling and circle the surprises: the au and the se at the end. Then do look-say-cover-write-check again straight away.
Answer: Circle the au and se, then write it again
Why is copying a word ten times less useful than it looks?
After the first two you are copying letters without looking at the word. Covering it forces you to recall it, and recall is what makes it stick.
Answer: Copying skips the remembering
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