69 English spellings have more than one pronunciation

a:  and – apron, any, father a-e:  came – camera ai:  wait – plait, said al:  always – algebra all:  tall - shall are:  care - are au:  autumn - laugh, mauve -ate:  to deliberate  - a deliberate act ay:  stays - says cc:  success - soccer ce:  centre - celtic ch:  chop –chorus, choir, chute cqu:  acquire - lacquer e:  end – english -e:  he - the ea:  mean  - meant, break ear:  ear – early, heart, bear -ee:  tree - matinee e-e:  even – seven, fete ei:  veil - ceiling, eider, their, leisure eigh:  weight - height eo:  people - leopard, leotard ere:  here – there, were -et:  tablet - chalet eau:  beauty – beau -ew:  few - sew -ey:  they - monkey ge:  gem - get gi:  ginger - girl gy:  gym – gynaecologist  ho:  house - hour i:  ink – kind -ine:  define –engine, machine ie:  field - friend, sieve imb:  limb – climb ign:  signature - sign mn:  amnesia - mnemonic

ost:  lost  - post -o:  go - do oa:  road - broad o-e:  bone – done,  gone -oes:  toes – does, shoes -oll:  roll - doll omb:  tombola - bomb, comb, tomb oo:  boot  - foot, brooch -ot:  despot - depot ou:  sound - soup, couple ough:  bough - rough, through, trough ought:  bought - drought oul:  should - shoulder our:  sour - four, journey ow:  how - low qu:  queen – bouquet s:  sun – sure sc:  scent - luscious, molusc -se:  rose - dose ss:  possible - possession th:  this - thing -ture:  picture - mature u:  cup – push ui:  build – fruit, ruin wa:  was – wag wh:  what - who wo:  won - woman, women, womb wor:  word – worn x:  box - xylophone, anxious -y-:  type - typical --y:  daddy - apply z:  zip – azure.

All common English words with phonically unreliable letters

can be seen below, listed in alphabetical order of the spellings with variable sounds.

 

At the very end is a list of the 103 English words which have different pronunciations in different contexts, followed by 190 high frequency words which most impede the reading progress of beginners.

Some spellings, a for example, have so many exceptional pronunciations that all the words with them really have to be learnt as sight words (rather than by decoding).  Such words are therefore listed together with the common words in which they have a regular pronunciation. 

* Words marked with an asterisk have variable pronunciation.

                                       

A  is particularly tricky for learners of standard UK English because in this accent it is often

    pronounced ah/ar; other pronunciation problems of the letter a, when it is pronounced like  ai in aim,   au in haul,    o in not,   e in bed,  affect all readers.

A, able, advance, after, aghast, ah, almond, almost, also, altar, alter, alternative, always, amble, ample, an, and, angle, answer, ant, antler, any,  apple, April, apron, armada, ask, at, await, awake, award, aware, away, awe, awful, awkward, awning, axle, baffle, bag, bald, ban, banana, band, bang, bash, bask, bastard, bat, bath, battle, black, blank, blast, bra, brag, bramble, branch, brand, cable, cackle, calf, calm, camp, can, canal, candle, cap, cash, cask, cast, caste, castle, cat, catch, cattle, chalk, chance, chant, chasten, chastity, chat, clam, clamp, clan, clang, clank, clap, clash, clasp, crab, crackle, craft, cramp, crank, crash, dab, dabble, daft, dahlia, dam, damp, dance, dangle, dank, dappled, dazzle, disaster, drab, draft, drag, drama, drank, dwarf, enhance, example, expanse, fable, fact, fad, falter, fan, fang, fast, fasten, fat, father, flabbergast, flag, flan, flank, flap, flash, flask, flat, frank, gabble, gable, gag, gala, gang, gash, gasp, ghastly, glad, glance, grab, graft, gram, gran, grand, graph, grapple, grasp, hack, had, half, halfpenny, halt, halve, ham, hand, handle, hang, hank, has, haste, hat, hatch, instalment, jab, jack, jam, jangle, khaki, la, lab, lack, lag, lamp, lance, land, lap, lash, last, latch, lather, ma, mad, mama, man, mangle, many, map, mash, mask, mass*, mast, mat, match, maths, pa, pack, pact, pad, paddle, palm, paltry, pan, panorama, pants, papa, past, paste, pasty x 2 [paisty, pasty], pastry, pat, patch, path, patrol, piano, plan, plank, plant, pram, prance, prank, prattle, psalm, pyjamas, quack, quadrangle, qualify, quality, quantity, quarrel, quarry, quarter, quartz, quay, rack, raffle, raft, ramble, ran, rang, rank, rascal, rash, rat, rather, rattle, reward, sack, sad, saddle, sag, salami, salt, sand, sang, sank, sap, sat, scald, scalp, scan, scramble, scrap, scratch, shaft, shah, shambles, shrank, slack, slam, slang, slant, slap, slash, smack, smash, snack, snap, snatch, soprano, spa, span, spangle, spank, spat, sprang, sprat, squabble, squad, squander, squash, squat, stab, stable, stack, stag, stalk, stamp, stance, stand, straggle, strangle, strap, strata, swag, swagger, swallow, swam, swamp, swan, swap, table, tack, tackle, tag, talk, tan, tangle, tank, tap, task, tax, than, thank, that, thatch, thrash, track, tract, tram, tramp, trample, trance, trap, twang, van, vast, waddle, waft, wag, wagon, walk, wallow, walnut, walrus, waltz, wan, wand, wander, wangle, want, wanton, war, warble, ward, warm, warn, warp, warrant, warren, warrior, wart, was, wash, wasp, watch, water, wattle, wax, yap, zap. 

 

 

Au  A few words do not have the main sound of au, as in ‘daub, gaudy, autum’.

Assault, aunt, Australia, because, cauliflower, chauffeur, draught, fault, gauge, hydraulic, laugh, laureate, laurel, mauve, restaurant, sausages, vault; 

 

 

Ch is not always as in chat. It can spell k,   sh   and a few other sounds.

Ache,  anchor,  archaeology,  architect,  architecture,  avalanche,  bronchial,  bronchitis,  chalet,  chameleon,  chamois,  champagne,  chaos,  character,  charade,  chasm,  chef,  chemical,  chemistry,  chivalrous,  choir [quier],  cholesterol,  chorus,  christen,  Christmas,  chrysalis,  chute,  crochet,  echo,  lichen* [litchen or liken],  machine,  mechanical,  mechanism,  microfiche,  monarch,  orchestra,  orchid,  parachute,  psychology,  richochet,  schedule,  scheme,  spinach [spinnage],  stomach,  technique,  yacht [yot].

 

Ea  spells mostly ee.  The other sound for it is mainly a short e, with a few exceptions,

      the ai of air or train, silent in ‘beauty’, the a in art,  eeya  in ‘linear’  and eea in ‘theatre’                                                      

Already,  appeal,  appear,  area,  beach,  beacon,  bead,  beak,  beam,  bean,  bear,  beard,  beast,  beat,  beauty,  beaver,  beneath,  bleach,  bleak,  bleat,  bread,  breadth,  break,  breakfast,  breast,  breath,  breathe,  cease,  cheap,  cheat,  clean,  cleanliness,  cleanse,  clear,  colleague,  conceal,  congeal,  creak,  cream,  crease,  create,  creature,  dead,  deaf,  deal,  dealt,  dean,  dear,  death,  decrease,  defeat,  disease,  dread,  dream,  dreamt,  dreary,  each,  eager,  eagle,  ear,  earl,  early,  earn,  earnest,  earth,  ease,  Easter,  east,  eat,  eaves,  endeavour,  fear,  feast,  feat,  feather,  feature,  flea,  freak,  gear,  gleam,  glean,  grease,  great,  head,  heal,  health,  heap,  hear,  heard,  heart,  hearth,  heat,  heath,  heathen,  heather,  heave,  heaven,  heavy,  hydrangea,  increase,  instead,  jealous,  jeans,  knead,  laureate,  leach,  lead x 2 [leed, led],  leaf,  league,  leak,  lean,  leant,  leap,  leapt,  learn,  lease,  leash,  least,  leather,  leave,  linear,  meadow,  meagre,  meal,  mean,  meant,  measles,  measure,  meat,  near,  neat,  nuclear,  ordeal,  pageant,  peace,  peach,  peak,  peal,  peanut,  pear,  pearl,  peas,  peasant,  peat,  pheasant,  plea,  plead,  pleasant,  please,  pleasure,  pleat,  preach,  queasy,  reach,  read x 2 [leed, led],  ready,  real,  reality,  really,  realm,  reap,  rear,  reason,  rehearse,  release,  repeat,  retreat,  reveal,  scream,  sea,  seal,  seam,  sear,  search,  season,  seat,  sheaf,  shear,  sheath,  smear,  sneak,  speak,  spear,  spread,  squeak,  squeal,  squeamish,  steady,  steak,  steal,  stealthy,  steam,  streak,  stream,  swear,  sweat,  tea,  teach,  teak,  team,  tears x 2 [teers, tairs],  tease,  theatre,  thread,  threat,  treacherous,  treacle,  treadmill,  treason,  treasure,  treat,  treaty,  veal,  weak,  wealth,  wean,  weapon,  wear,  weary,  weasel,  weather,  weave,  wheat,  wreak,  wreath,  year,  yearn,  yeast,  zeal,  zealous.

 

Ge, gi and gy  mostly have the sounds je and ji,  as in  gentle, ginger and gym.

                      In the words below the g is hard, as in gap and got.

Anger,   bogey,   eager,   finger,   fishmonger,   forget,   gear,   geese,   get,   geyser,   hamburger,   hunger,   linger,   target,   tiger,   together;    

begin,   corgi,  giddy,   gift,   giggle,   gild,   gills,   gilt,   girder,   girdle,   girl,   give, given, forgive,  longevity,   longitude;   gymkhana.

 

Ie  spells the  ee sound, but several  other sounds too:

      ie of tie,   e of end,  -ye of dryer,   ee-ye,   i of sit and  je.     

      The phonic overlap with ei  (shown next) adds to the reading problems caused by this

      spelling.

Achieve, alien, amplifier, ancient, anxiety, barrier, belief,  believe, brief, carrier, cavalier, chandelier, chief, client, conscience, convenient, crier, die, diesel, diet, field, fiend, fierce, friend, frontier, glacier, glockenspiel, grief, grieve, handkerchief, hygiene, ingredient, interview, lenient, lie, lieutenant [leftennant], medieval, mischief, movie, niece, obedient, oriental, pannier, patient,  pie,  piece,  pier,  pierce,  pliers,  premier, priest, proprietor, quiet, relief, relieve, review,  science, series, shield, shriek, siege, sieve, society, soldier, soviet, spaniel, species, thief, thieve, tie, tier, twentieth, variety, vie, view, wheelie, wield, yield.

Ei  can also spell the  ee sound and several others: ai  of rain,  e of bed,  ie of tie,  i of bit.

Ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, deign, eight, either*, Fahrenheit, feign, foreign, forfeit, freight,  heifer, height, heir,  kaleidoscope, leisure*,  neigh, neither*,  protein,  receipt, receive, reign, reindeer,  reinforce,  reins, seize, sheikh, skein, sleigh,  sleight, sovereign, their,  veil, vein, weigh, weight,  weir, weird.

 

Eo The few word with eo have highly  variable sounds.

Geography, geology, theology,   jeopardy, leopard,   people,  leotard.

 

I   followed by two consonants is normally short (mint), but in words listed below it has a long sound as in line.

Align, behind, benign, bible – biblical, bind, blind, child, climb, consign, design, find, grind, idle, indict, kind - kindle, kindred, mild, mind, ninth, pint, resign, rind, sign;     rifle,  stifle, title, trifle - triple, whilst, wild - wilderness.