20 Important Phonics Rules

1.  The "silent e" rule:

When a word ends with a vowel-consonant-e pattern, the final "e" is silent and the preceding vowel is long. For example, "cake" and "hope." 

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2. The "short vowel" rule:

When a word has only one vowel and it is followed by a consonant, the vowel is usually short. For example, "cat" and "dog." 

 

3. The "consonant digraph" rule:

Two consonants that come together to make a new sound are called a consonant digraph. For example, /sh/ in "ship" and /th/ in "that." 

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4. The "vowel digraph" rule:

Two vowels that come together to make a new sound are called a vowel digraph. For example, /oa/ in "boat" and /ee/ in "see." 

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5. The "r-controlled" rule:

When a vowel is followed by the letter "r," it is usually neither long nor short, but is influenced by the /r/ sound. For example, "car" and "bird." 

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6. The "soft c" and "soft g" rule:

When the letters "c" or "g" are followed by an "i," "e," or "y," they usually make their soft sounds. For example, /ce/ in "ice" and /ge/ in "gem." 

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7. The "blends" rule:

When two or more consonants come together but each sound can still be heard, they form a consonant blend. For example, /bl/ in "black" and /gr/ in "green." 

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8. The "silent consonant" rule:

Some consonants are silent in certain words. For example, the "k" in "knee" and the "w" in "wrist." 

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9. The "closed syllable" rule:

When a vowel is followed by a consonant, forming a single sound, it is called a closed syllable. For example, "cat" and "dog." 

 

10. The "open syllable" rule:

When a syllable ends with a vowel that is not followed by a consonant, it is called an open syllable. For example, "me" and "we." 

 

11. The "schwa" rule:

The most common vowel sound in English is the schwa sound, which is a short, neutral sound. It is often heard in unstressed syllables. For example, the /a/ sound in "about" and the /u/ sound in "supply." 

 

12. The "hard c" and "hard g" rule:

When the letters "c" or "g" are followed by an "a," "o," or "u," they usually make their hard sounds. For example, "ca" in "cat" and "go" in "goat." 

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13. The "suffix" rule:

When a word ends with a suffix, the base word usually does not change its pronunciation. For example, "jump" becomes "jumped" and "hope" becomes "hopeful." 

 

14. The "prefix" rule:

When a word begins with a prefix, the base word usually does not change its pronunciation. For example, "happy" becomes "unhappy" and "kind" becomes "unkind." 

 

15. The "vowel-consonant-le" rule:

When a word ends with the pattern vowel-consonant-le, the "le" is pronounced as a syllable. For example, "able" in "table" and "tle" in "little." 

 

16. The "long vowel teams" rule:

When two vowels appear together and the first vowel is long, it is called a long vowel team. For example, /ai/ in "rain" and /oa/ in "boat." 

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17. The "silent letter" rule:

Some letters are silent in certain words. For example, the "k" in "knight" and the "h" in "hour." 

 

18. The "homophones" rule:

Words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings are called homophones. For example, "to," "two," and "too." 

 

19. The "contractions" rule:

When two words are combined and one or more letters are omitted, it forms a contraction. For example, "can not" becomes "can't" and "I am" becomes "I'm." 

 

20. The "syllable division" rule:

When dividing a word into syllables, it is important to follow certain rules, such as keeping consonant blends together and separating syllables between vowels. For example, "cat" is divided as "cat" and "hap-py" is divided as "hap-py." 

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