Year 1 English: Surprise sounds in tricky words
Part of the Year 1 English tricky words chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Surprise sounds in tricky words
Some letters make a surprise sound. The s at the end of is, his and has says the z sound, as in zip. The f in of says the v sound, as in van. The u in put, push, pull and full says the sound in book.
The ie in friend says the e sound in bed, and the ch in school says the k sound in cat.
Read the story. It uses many of the tricky words from this chapter.
Today Amira and her friend Jack go to the park. They put their bags down by the big tree. Jack pushes the swing. Amira pulls the rope. Then they sit on the bench. Amira says, “Let’s come back here after school.” Jack says, “Yes, I will.”
Key ideas
- The s at the end of is, his and has says the z sound.
- The f in of says the v sound, as in van.
- The u in put, push, pull and full says the sound in book.
- The ie in friend and the ch in school are tricky too.
Method. Look at the end of the word.
- Find the last letter. It is the letter that makes the z sound.Last letter in his: s
- Say the z sound. The s at the end of is, his and has says “z”, as in “zip”.like “zip”
- Write the answer. s
Check. The last s is the one that says z, as in zip. ✓
Watch out. The s at the start of a word, as in sun, says the s sound.
Method. Say the whole word, then find the letters that are missing.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.pull
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 1 letter(s).1 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The u makes the “oo” sound, as in “book”. It does not make the “uh” sound in “fun”.u
Check. Put u back into the box and read the word: pull. ✓
Watch out. Write the tricky letters exactly as they are in the word.
Method. Compare the two sounds.
- Look at friend. The ie makes the e sound, as in bed.friend: e, as in bed
- Look at tree. The ee makes the ee sound.tree: ee
- Write the answer. No. The two sounds are different.
Check. Bed and tree have different vowel sounds. ✓
Watch out. Friend is tricky because the ie does not say ee.
Watch out
Watch out: the s in is does not say the s sound in sun. It says the z sound, as in zip. The f in of says v, not f.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Read the story together, one sentence at a time. Ask your child to find each tricky word and point to its red part. Then ask: “What happens next?” to practise reading for meaning.
Exercise 4F Surprise sounds and the story
Method. Look at the end of the word.
- Find the last letter. It is the letter that makes the z sound.Last letter in is: s
- Say the z sound. The s at the end of is, his and has says “z”, as in “zip”.like “zip”
- Write the answer. s
Check. The last s is the one that says z, as in zip. ✓
Watch out. The s at the start of a word, as in sun, says the s sound.
Method. Look at the end of the word.
- Find the last letter. It is the letter that makes the z sound.Last letter in his: s
- Say the z sound. The s at the end of is, his and has says “z”, as in “zip”.like “zip”
- Write the answer. s
Check. The last s is the one that says z, as in zip. ✓
Watch out. The s at the start of a word, as in sun, says the s sound.
Method. Look at the end of the word.
- Find the last letter. It is the letter that makes the z sound.Last letter in has: s
- Say the z sound. The s at the end of is, his and has says “z”, as in “zip”.like “zip”
- Write the answer. s
Check. The last s is the one that says z, as in zip. ✓
Watch out. The s at the start of a word, as in sun, says the s sound.
Method. Compare the sound with the example word.
- Find the tricky part. It is the unusual letters.f
- Find its sound. Each tricky part has one sound.of: the sound in “van”
- Compare with the claim. The claim says the sound in “fan”.A different sound
- Write the answer. False
Check. The note says: The f makes the “v” sound, as in “van”. It does not make the “f” sound in “fan”.
Watch out. Check the example word, not the spelling.
Method. Find the word whose tricky part makes a different sound from the other two.
- Find the tricky part of each word. Look at the unusual letters.put: u as in “book”; pull: u as in “book”; pat: a as in “cat”; full: u as in “book”
- Compare the sounds. Two of the words share a sound. One does not.pat is different
- Write the answer. pat
Check. The other two words share the same sound. ✓
Watch out. Compare the tricky parts, not the whole word.
Method. Read the whole sentence. Which word makes sense in the gap, and is spelled with its tricky part?
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.Please ___ your coat on the peg.
- Find the word that fits. Put means to place something somewhere.put
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.put
Check. Put put in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The u makes the “oo” sound, as in “book”. It does not make the “uh” sound in “fun”.
Method. Read the whole sentence. Which word makes sense in the gap, and is spelled with its tricky part?
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.Can you ___ the door shut?
- Find the word that fits. Push means to move something away from you.push
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.push
Check. Put push in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The u makes the “oo” sound, as in “book”. It does not make the “uh” sound in “fun”.
Method. Read the whole sentence. Which word makes sense in the gap, and is spelled with its tricky part?
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.The cup is ___. Do not spill it.
- Find the word that fits. Full means it has no space left inside.full
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.full
Check. Put full in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The u makes the “oo” sound, as in “book”. It does not make the “uh” sound in “fun”.
Method. Find the word where the ch makes the k sound.
- Say school. The ch says the k sound, as in cat.school: k, as in cat
- Say chair. The ch in chair says the ch sound.chair: ch
- Write the answer. school
Check. School has the k sound. Chair does not. ✓
Watch out. Check the sound of the ch, not only the letters.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at “frend”. Compare it with the word friend.frend is not right
- Find the tricky part. The tricky letters must be written exactly.The tricky part is ie
- Write the word correctly. friend
Check. Read your answer. Does it match the word friend? ✓
Watch out. The ie makes the “e” sound, as in “bed”. It does not make the “ee” sound in “tree”.
Method. Find the friend in the story.
- Look for the word friend. The story says her friend, then a name.her friend Jack
- Find the name after friend. The name is the friend.Jack
- Write the answer. Jack
Check. Jack goes to the park with Amira. ✓
Watch out. Read the words after friend.
Method. Find the sentence that tells where the bags are put.
- Look for the word put. The story says they put their bags.put their bags
- Find the place. It says where the bags go: down by the big tree.down by the big tree
- Write the answer. By the big tree is also correct.Down by the big tree
Check. By the big tree is also correct. ✓
Watch out. Answer with the words from the story.
Method. Find the sentence with pulls.
- Look for the word pulls. Amira pulls the rope.Amira pulls the rope
- Find who does it. Amira is the person who pulls.Amira
- Write the answer. Amira
Check. Jack pushes the swing, and Amira pulls the rope. ✓
Watch out. Pull and push are different. Read which name goes with each.
Method. Use what has happened in the story to guess what comes next.
- Look at what they are doing. Jack pushes the swing and they sit on the bench.the swing and the bench
- Think what makes sense next. A friend who has been on the swing may go back to it.they will play on the swing
- Write your idea. Any idea that matches the story is right.They will play on the swing.
Check. Use a full sentence to say what you think will happen. ✓
Watch out. Any sensible guess that matches the story is correct.