What is a phonogram?
A phonogram is a letter or group of letters that stands for a sound. Some groups can make several different sounds, and some sounds can be spelt in several different ways.
The tricky “ough”
| Sounds like | Words |
|---|---|
| oh | though, although, dough |
| oo | through |
| off | cough, trough |
| uff | rough, tough, enough |
| or | bought, thought, brought, ought |
| ow | bough, plough |
More patterns to know
| Pattern | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ph | f | photo, dolphin, alphabet, elephant, graph |
| ch | k | school, chorus, character, stomach, echo |
| ch | sh | chef, machine, parachute |
| ie / ei | ee | i before e (believe, field, piece) except after c (receive, ceiling) |
| ei | ay | eight, neighbour, vein, reign |
| -ture | cher | picture, adventure, creature, nature |
| -sure | zher | treasure, measure, pleasure |
| -cious / -tious | shus | delicious, precious · ambitious, cautious |
| -cial / -tial | shul | special, official · partial, essential |
Watch out! “i before e” has exceptions you must learn: weird, seize, protein.
Top tip: when you learn one word with a pattern, collect a family: bought, brought, thought, ought. They all sound the same and are spelt the same way.
👆 Spot the right spelling
Tap every word that is spelt correctly.
🔎 Sound patterns1 of 5