Year 1 English: Other spellings: ir, aw and au, and longer words
Part of the Year 1 English more ways to write a sound chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Other spellings: ir, aw and au, and longer words
ir says the sound in turn, as in bird, girl and first. aw and au both say the sound in fork. Use aw in saw and yawn. Use au in autumn and sauce.
Some words have more than one part. Each part is a syllable. It has one clap and one vowel sound. Read each part first, then join the parts: bed + time = bedtime.
Key ideas
- ir says the er sound, as in bird, girl and first.
- aw is often at the end of a word, or before n, as in saw and yawn.
- au does not end a word. It is in autumn and sauce.
- A syllable is one part of a word, with one clap and one vowel sound.
- Read each part first, then join the parts together.
Method. Look for the letters au in each word.
- Look at each word. Find the two letters we want.saw: does not have au
autumn: has au
sun: does not have au - Think about the spelling rule. au is in autumn. saw has aw, not au.The letters au are in autumn
- Write the answer. autumn
Check. Read autumn with your finger. The letters au are in it. ✓
Watch out. Do not mix up au with the other spellings of the same sound. Learn the words that use it.
Method. Read the word in parts, then put the parts together.
- Clap the parts. Each part has one clap and one vowel sound.birth-day
- Read each part on its own. Read the first part, then the second part.birth, then day
- Put the parts together. Say the whole word once you have read the parts.birthday
Check. The parts birth and day make birthday. ✓
Watch out. Read each part first. Then join them. Do not read the first letters and guess the rest.
Method. Read the word in parts, then put the parts together.
- Clap the parts. Each part has one clap and one vowel sound.cup-cake
- Read each part on its own. Read the first part, then the second part.cup, then cake
- Put the parts together. Say the whole word once you have read the parts.cupcake
Check. The parts cup and cake make cupcake. ✓
Watch out. Read each part first. Then join them. Do not read the first letters and guess the rest.
Watch out
Watch out: August begins with a capital letter, because it is the name of a month. Days and months also need a capital letter.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Clap the parts of a long word with your child: bed-time, birth-day, sun-shine. Read each part before you join them together.
Exercise 3F Other spellings: ir, aw and au, and longer words
Key words. A split digraph is a vowel, then one consonant, then e at the end, like the a, k and e in cake.
Method. Name the picture, then write the word with the right letters.
- Look at the picture. Say the name of the thing in a whole word.The picture shows a girl.
- Say the word slowly. Look at every letter, one at a time.g - i - r - l
- Write the word. Write the letters in the right order.girl
Check. Count the letters in girl: there are 4. ✓
Watch out. Look at every letter. A word with a letter missing or in the wrong place is not right.
Key words. A split digraph is a vowel, then one consonant, then e at the end, like the a, k and e in cake.
Method. Name the picture, then write the word with the right letters.
- Look at the picture. Say the name of the thing in a whole word.The picture shows a paw.
- Say the word slowly. Look at every letter, one at a time.p - a - w
- Write the word. Write the letters in the right order.paw
Check. Count the letters in paw: there are 3. ✓
Watch out. Look at every letter. A word with a letter missing or in the wrong place is not right.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.b?d
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.bird: the gap is ir
- Write the missing letters. ir
Check. Put ir into the gap and read bird again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.sh?t
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.shirt: the gap is ir
- Write the missing letters. ir
Check. Put ir into the gap and read shirt again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.f?st
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.first: the gap is ir
- Write the missing letters. ir
Check. Put ir into the gap and read first again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.sk?t
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.skirt: the gap is ir
- Write the missing letters. ir
Check. Put ir into the gap and read skirt again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.s?
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.saw: the gap is aw
- Write the missing letters. aw
Check. Put aw into the gap and read saw again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.y?n
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.yawn: the gap is aw
- Write the missing letters. aw
Check. Put aw into the gap and read yawn again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.?tumn
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.autumn: the gap is au
- Write the missing letters. au
Check. Put au into the gap and read autumn again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.p?se
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.pause: the gap is au
- Write the missing letters. au
Check. Put au into the gap and read pause again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Look for the letters aw in each word.
- Look at each word. Find the two letters we want.sew: does not have aw
saw: has aw
see: does not have aw - Think about the spelling rule. aw is often at the end of a word, as in saw.The letters aw are in saw
- Write the answer. saw
Check. Read saw with your finger. The letters aw are in it. ✓
Watch out. Do not mix up aw with the other spellings of the same sound. Learn the words that use it.
Method. Say the word, then check which spelling is right.
- Look at the two spellings. Only one of them is a real English word.Agust is not the word; August is
- Use the spelling rule. August is the name of a month. It starts with a capital A, then u, g, u, s, t.The right word is August
- Write the word. August
Check. Look at the picture or the meaning of August to check it. ✓
Watch out. Some words follow a rule. Others you learn by heart.
Method. Read the word in parts, then put the parts together.
- Clap the parts. Each part has one clap and one vowel sound.cup-cake
- Read each part on its own. Read the first part, then the second part.cup, then cake
- Put the parts together. Say the whole word once you have read the parts.cupcake
Check. The parts cup and cake make cupcake. ✓
Watch out. Read each part first. Then join them. Do not read the first letters and guess the rest.
Method. Read the word in parts, then put the parts together.
- Clap the parts. Each part has one clap and one vowel sound.bed-time
- Read each part on its own. Read the first part, then the second part.bed, then time
- Put the parts together. Say the whole word once you have read the parts.bedtime
Check. The parts bed and time make bedtime. ✓
Watch out. Read each part first. Then join them. Do not read the first letters and guess the rest.
Method. Read the word in parts, then put the parts together.
- Clap the parts. Each part has one clap and one vowel sound.play-ground
- Read each part on its own. Read the first part, then the second part.play, then ground
- Put the parts together. Say the whole word once you have read the parts.playground
Check. The parts play and ground make playground. ✓
Watch out. Read each part first. Then join them. Do not read the first letters and guess the rest.
Method. Read the word in parts, then put the parts together.
- Clap the parts. Each part has one clap and one vowel sound.tea-pot
- Read each part on its own. Read the first part, then the second part.tea, then pot
- Put the parts together. Say the whole word once you have read the parts.teapot
Check. The parts tea and pot make teapot. ✓
Watch out. Read each part first. Then join them. Do not read the first letters and guess the rest.
Method. Put the two parts together, and read the whole word.
- Read the first part. The first part is birth.birth
- Read the second part. The second part is day.day
- Join the parts. Put the parts together, then read the whole word.birthday
Check. Read the parts again: birth, day. Together they make birthday. ✓
Watch out. Join the parts with no space between them.
Method. Look for the pattern that most of the words have. Then find the word that does not have it.
- Look at all the words. Find the pattern in each word.bird, girl, sauce, shirt
- Find the word that does not match. bird, girl and shirt have ir. sauce has au.sauce does not match
- Write the answer. sauce
Check. Check each of the other words has the same pattern. ✓
Watch out. Look at the letters, not the picture or the meaning, for this question.
Method. Look for the letters au in each word.
- Look at each word. Find the two letters we want.saw: does not have au
sauce: has au
sour: does not have au - Think about the spelling rule. au is in sauce, in the middle of the word.The letters au are in sauce
- Write the answer. sauce
Check. Read sauce with your finger. The letters au are in it. ✓
Watch out. Do not mix up au with the other spellings of the same sound. Learn the words that use it.
Method. Think about where the aw and au spellings go.
- Look at saw. saw ends with the aw sound.saw: aw at the end
- Look at au words. au does not usually end a word: autumn, sauce.au is not at the end
- Decide the spelling. So saw is spelled with aw.aw is used at the end of saw.
Check. Read saw with your finger: s, a, w. ✓
Watch out. Learn the common places for aw and au.