Year 3 English: The ay sound spelt ei, eigh, ey and aigh
Part of the Year 3 English spelling patterns chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
The ay sound spelt ei, eigh, ey and aigh
The sound ay, as in play, can be spelled in four ways in these words.
The ei is in vein and weigh. The eigh is in weigh, eighty, neighbour, sleigh and eight. The ey is in they, grey, obey and prey. The aigh is in straight.
The sound does not tell you which spelling to use. Learn each word with its spelling.
Key ideas
- The ay sound, as in play, can be spelled ei, eigh, ey or aigh.
- Eighty and neighbour have the eigh spelling.
- They, grey, obey and prey end with ey.
- Straight has the aigh spelling.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.a thin tube that carries blood back to the heart
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.vein
- Check the tricky part. The ei says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: ei
- Write the answer. vein
Check. Read vein and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The ei says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.Walk ___ ahead to the gate.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. not bent or curved; going in one directionstraight
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.Walk straight ahead to the gate.
- Write the answer. straight
Check. Read the whole sentence with straight in it. ✓
Watch out. The aigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.sleigh
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 4 letter(s) in a row.4 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.eigh
Check. Put eigh back in the box and read sleigh. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Watch out
Watch out: grey is the UK spelling, not gray. Neighbour has ou at the end, as in UK English.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Say the ay sound, as in play, then ask your child which spelling is in each word. Make a sorting table of the four spellings on paper.
Exercise 1B Practice: ei, eigh, ey and aigh
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.a thin tube that carries blood back to the heart
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.vein
- Check the tricky part. The ei says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: ei
- Write the answer. vein
Check. Read vein and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The ei says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.to find out how heavy something is
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.weigh
- Check the tricky part. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: eigh
- Write the answer. weigh
Check. Read weigh and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.a vehicle on runners that is pulled over the snow
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.sleigh
- Check the tricky part. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: eigh
- Write the answer. sleigh
Check. Read sleigh and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.not bent or curved; going in one direction
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.straight
- Check the tricky part. The aigh says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: aigh
- Write the answer. straight
Check. Read straight and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The aigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.Our ___ has a big black dog.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. a person who lives next door to youneighbour
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.Our neighbour has a big black dog.
- Write the answer. neighbour
Check. Read the whole sentence with neighbour in it. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound. The ou at the end is the UK spelling.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.My gran is ___ years old.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. the number that is ten times eighteighty
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.My gran is eighty years old.
- Write the answer. eighty
Check. Read the whole sentence with eighty in it. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play. Eighty has the word eight inside it.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.___ are going to the park after school.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. the people or things we are talking about, who are not usthey
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.they are going to the park after school.
- Write the answer. they
Check. Read the whole sentence with they in it. ✓
Watch out. The ey says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.Puppies must learn to ___ their owners.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. to do what you are told to doobey
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.Puppies must learn to obey their owners.
- Write the answer. obey
Check. Read the whole sentence with obey in it. ✓
Watch out. The ey says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.prey
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s) in a row.2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ey says the ay sound, as in play.ey
Check. Put ey back in the box and read prey. ✓
Watch out. The ey says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.straight
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 4 letter(s) in a row.4 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The aigh says the ay sound, as in play.aigh
Check. Put aigh back in the box and read straight. ✓
Watch out. The aigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.vein
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s) in a row.2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ei says the ay sound, as in play.ei
Check. Put ei back in the box and read vein. ✓
Watch out. The ei says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at gray. Compare it with the word grey.gray is not right
- Find the tricky part. The ey says the ay sound, as in play. UK English spells it grey.Tricky part: ey
- Write the word correctly. grey
Check. Read grey and check each letter. ✓
Watch out. The ey says the ay sound, as in play. UK English spells it grey.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at obay. Compare it with the word obey.obay is not right
- Find the tricky part. The ey says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: ey
- Write the word correctly. obey
Check. Read obey and check each letter. ✓
Watch out. The ey says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at wey. Compare it with the word weigh.wey is not right
- Find the tricky part. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.Tricky part: eigh
- Write the word correctly. weigh
Check. Read weigh and check each letter. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Method. Look at the endings of both words.
- Look at they. They ends with ey.they
- Look at obey. Obey also ends with ey.obey
- Write the answer. Yes. Both end with ey, which says the ay sound, as in play.
Check. Both end with ey. ✓
Watch out. Spellings can be the same even when the words mean different things.
Method. Find one word with each spelling.
- Find an eigh word. eighty has the eigh spelling.eighty
- Find an ey word. grey has the ey spelling.grey
- Write the answer. Any correct pair, for example: eighty and grey.
Check. eigh and ey are in each word. ✓
Watch out. Check each spelling against the list.
Method. Look at the spelling and the sound.
- Look at neighbour. The letters eigh are in the middle of the word.neigh-bour
- Check the sound. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.ay sound
- Write the answer. Yes. The eigh says the ay sound, as in play.
Check. neighbour has the eigh spelling. ✓
Watch out. The ou at the end is the UK spelling.
Method. Use sleigh in a sentence that makes sense.
- Think of a sleigh. A sleigh is pulled over snow.a sleigh
- Write the sentence. Check the eigh in sleigh.We rode the sleigh over the snow.
- Write the answer. Any correct sentence with sleigh, for example: We rode the sleigh over the snow.
Check. sleigh has eigh. ✓
Watch out. Check the spelling of sleigh.
Method. Look at the letters in each word.
- Find the ey words. grey and prey end with ey.grey, prey
- Find the eigh words. eighty, weigh and sleigh have eigh.eighty, weigh, sleigh
- Write the answer. ey: grey, prey. eigh: eighty, weigh, sleigh.
Check. Each word is in the right list. ✓
Watch out. Sort by the letters, not by the sound.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.neighbour
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 4 letter(s) in a row.4 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The eigh says the ay sound. The ou at the end is the UK spelling.eigh
Check. Put eigh back in the box and read neighbour. ✓
Watch out. The eigh says the ay sound. The ou at the end is the UK spelling.
Method. Use each word in a sentence that makes sense.
- Use straight. Straight means not bent or curved.Walk straight to the gate.
- Use vein. A vein is a thin tube that carries blood.The vein on my hand is blue.
- Write the answer. Any two correct sentences, for example: Walk straight to the gate. The vein on my hand is blue.
Check. Check each spelling. ✓
Watch out. Check the aigh and ei spellings.