Year 1 English: The letters e and y that say a long sound
Part of the Year 1 English tricky words chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
The letters e and y that say a long sound
Words such as he, she, me, we and be end with an e that says the sound in tree. The word they makes the sound in day. In by and my, the y says the sound in sky.
Each one has a letter that does not do what we expect, so each is tricky.
Key ideas
- The e in he, she, me, we and be says the sound in tree.
- The ey in they says the sound in day.
- The y in by and my says the sound in sky.
Method. Find the part of the word that does not follow the usual sound.
- Say the word slowly. Listen to each part of it.he
- Find the unusual letters. The e makes the “ee” sound, as in “tree”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.The tricky part is e
- Write the answer. e
Check. Read he again and point to e. ✓
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.they
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s).2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ey makes the “ay” sound, as in “day”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.ey
Check. Put ey back into the box and read the word: they. ✓
Watch out. Write the tricky letters exactly as they are in the word.
Method. Say each sound in your head, then compare the sound of by with the sound of happy.
- Look at by. The y says the sound in sky.by: igh, as in sky
- Look at happy. The y at the end of happy says the ee sound, as in tree.happy: ee, as in tree
- Write the answer. No. The two y sounds are different.
Check. Sky and tree are different sounds, so the y is not the same. ✓
Watch out. Look at the example word for each sound, not the letter alone.
Watch out
Watch out: he, she, me, we and be do not say the eh sound in bed. They say the ee sound, as in tree.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Read the words aloud and point to the e or y each time. Ask: “Which sound does this letter make?” Then ask your child to spell it from memory.
Exercise 4D The letters e and y
Method. Say the whole word, then find the letters that are missing.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.she
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 1 letter(s).1 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The e makes the “ee” sound, as in “tree”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.e
Check. Put e back into the box and read the word: she. ✓
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.Dad and I went out. ___ had lots of fun.
- Find the word that fits. We means me and another person.we
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.we
Check. Put we in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The e makes the “ee” sound, as in “tree”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.
Method. Find the word that means belonging to me.
- Look at the words. My means belonging to me, such as my bag.my = belonging to me
- Check the other word. By means next to, or past, as in by the tree.by = next to
- Write the answer. my
Check. Say my bag and by the tree. Both are different. ✓
Watch out. My and by look alike, but they mean different things.
Method. Compare the sound with the example word.
- Find the tricky part. It is the unusual letters.y
- Find its sound. Each tricky part has one sound.my: the sound in “sky”
- Compare with the claim. The claim says the sound in “happy”.A different sound
- Write the answer. False
Check. The note says: The y makes the “igh” sound, as in “sky”. It does not make the “ee” sound in “happy”.
Watch out. Check the example word, not the spelling.
Method. Find the word that has the ay sound, as in day.
- Say they. The ey makes the ay sound, as in day.they: ay
- Say he. The e makes the ee sound, as in tree.he: ee
- Write the answer. they
Check. They has the ay sound. He does not. ✓
Watch out. Look for the letters that make the sound, not the first letter.
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 can you play with ___?
- Find the word that fits. Me is the word for the person speaking.me
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.me
Check. Put me in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The e makes the “ee” sound, as in “tree”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at “shee”. Compare it with the word she.shee is not right
- Find the tricky part. The tricky letters must be written exactly.The tricky part is e
- Write the word correctly. she
Check. Read your answer. Does it match the word she? ✓
Watch out. The e makes the “ee” sound, as in “tree”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.
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.I want to ___ a good friend.
- Find the word that fits. Be is the word we use after to, as in to be kind.be
- Write the word. Spell the tricky part exactly.be
Check. Put be in the gap and read the sentence again. It makes sense. ✓
Watch out. The e makes the “ee” sound, as in “tree”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.
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.he: e as in “tree”; we: e as in “tree”; me: e as in “tree”; by: y as in “sky”
- Compare the sounds. Two of the words share a sound. One does not.by is different
- Write the answer. by
Check. The other two words share the same sound. ✓
Watch out. Compare the tricky parts, not the whole word.
Method. Say the whole word, then find the letters that are missing.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.they
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s).2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ey makes the “ay” sound, as in “day”. It does not make the “eh” sound in “bed”.ey
Check. Put ey back into the box and read the word: they. ✓
Watch out. Write the tricky letters exactly as they are in the word.
Method. Say the sound that be makes, then say the sound of the e in bed.
- Say be. The e makes the ee sound, as in tree.be: ee
- Compare with bed. In bed, the e says the eh sound. That is what we expect, so be is tricky.bed: eh
- Write the reason. The e says the ee sound, as in tree, not the eh sound in bed.
Check. Read be and bed together. The e is the same letter, with a different sound. ✓
Watch out. The same letter can make different sounds.