Year 1 English: The letters a, ai and ay in tricky words
Part of the Year 1 English tricky words chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
The letters a, ai and ay in tricky words
The letter a is tricky in was, which makes the sound in hot. In are and ask it makes the sound in car.
The letters ai in said make the sound in bed. The letters ay in says make the same sound, and the last s in says makes the z sound, as in zip.
Key ideas
- The a in was says the sound in hot.
- The ai in said says the sound in bed.
- The a in are and ask says the sound in car.
- The s at the end of says says the z sound.
Method. Find the part of the word that does not follow the usual sound.
- Say the word slowly. Listen to each part of it.was
- Find the unusual letters. The a makes the “o” sound, as in “hot”. It does not make the “ar” sound in “car”.The tricky part is a
- Write the answer. a
Check. Read was again and point to a. ✓
Watch out. Do not try to sound out the tricky part. Learn it by heart.
Method. Say the whole word, then find the letters that are missing.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.said
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s).2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ai makes the “e” sound, as in “bed”. It does not make the “ay” sound in “day”.ai
Check. Put ai back into the box and read the word: said. ✓
Watch out. Write the tricky letters exactly as they are in the word.
Method. Look at the end of the word.
- Find the last letter. It is the letter that makes the z sound.Last letter in says: 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.
Watch out
Watch out: said is not spelled like sad or day. The ai makes the e sound in bed, so write a and i together, then d.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to read the word said in a sentence: “Mum said, ‘Time for bed.’” Then ask them to cover the word and write it. Look back together at the ai.
Exercise 4C The letters a, ai and ay
Method. Find the part of the word that does not follow the usual sound.
- Say the word slowly. Listen to each part of it.was
- Find the unusual letters. The a makes the “o” sound, as in “hot”. It does not make the “ar” sound in “car”.The tricky part is a
- Write the answer. a
Check. Read was again and point to a. ✓
Watch out. Do not try to sound out the tricky part. Learn it by heart.
Method. Compare the sound with the example word.
- Find the tricky part. It is the unusual letters.a
- Find its sound. Each tricky part has one sound.was: the sound in “hot”
- Compare with the claim. The claim says the sound in “hot”.The same sound
- Write the answer. True
Check. The note says: The a makes the “o” sound, as in “hot”. It does not make the “ar” sound in “car”.
Watch out. Check the example word, not the spelling.
Method. Say the whole word, then find the letters that are missing.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.said
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s).2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ai makes the “e” sound, as in “bed”. It does not make the “ay” sound in “day”.ai
Check. Put ai back into the box and read the word: said. ✓
Watch out. Write the tricky letters exactly as they are in the 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.Amira ___ hello to her friend.
- Find the word that fits. Said is the past of say.said
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.said
Check. Put said in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The ai makes the “e” sound, as in “bed”. It does not make the “ay” sound in “day”.
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.Mum ___ it is time for bed.
- Find the word that fits. Says is used for one person, such as Mum, in the present.says
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.says
Check. Put says in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The ay makes the “e” sound, as in “bed”. The last s makes the “z” sound, as in “zip”.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at “sed”. Compare it with the word said.sed is not right
- Find the tricky part. The tricky letters must be written exactly.The tricky part is ai
- Write the word correctly. said
Check. Read your answer. Does it match the word said? ✓
Watch out. The ai makes the “e” sound, as in “bed”. It does not make the “ay” sound in “day”.
Method. Look at each letter of are and think about which one does not make a sound.
- Say are. The a says the sound in car. The r is clear.a, r, e
- Find the quiet letter. The e at the end of are does not make a sound.the e is quiet
- Write the answer. e
Check. Are is one of the tricky words. Its e is quiet. ✓
Watch out. Silent letters are letters we write but do not say.
Method. Find the word that means putting a question to someone.
- Look at the words. Ask is the word for putting a question to someone.ask
- Check the other word. Was is the past of is, as in It was hot.was
- Write the answer. ask
Check. Ask, a question: Can I ask you something? ✓
Watch out. Ask has a sk at the end.
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.was: a as in “hot”; ask: a as in “car”; are: a and e as in “car”
- Compare the sounds. Two of the words share a sound. One does not.was is different
- Write the answer. was
Check. The other two words share the same sound. ✓
Watch out. Compare the tricky parts, not the whole word.
Method. Look at the end of the word.
- Find the last letter. It is the letter that makes the z sound.Last letter in says: 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 sound that ai makes, then say the sound you would expect from day.
- Say said. The ai makes the e sound, as in bed.said: e, as in bed
- Compare with day. In day the ay makes the ay sound, not the e sound.day: ay
- Write the reason. The ai makes the e sound, as in bed, not the ay sound in day.
Check. Said and day look alike, but the sounds are different. ✓
Watch out. Spelling patterns can look alike but make different sounds.