Pronunciation Practice with Phonograms – Part 1

Pronunciation Practice with Phonograms - Part 1 Espresso English

Pronunciation can be confusing, but phonograms can help!

What are phonograms?

Phonograms are groups of letters that represent specific sounds. For example, the -igh phonogram often represents the long “i” sound, so “high” is pronounced the same as “hi.” 

Why practice pronunciation with phonograms?

Phonograms can help you see patterns in the relationship between English pronunciation and spelling. They also help you practice the same sound with different sounds before it (like cat, rat, fat, bat, etc.)

What about exceptions?

Many students complain that English spelling and pronunciation is so irregular. It’s true – for example, ough can be pronounced five different ways! In Part 1 of this lesson, we’ll learn the 36 most common basic phonograms, and in Parts 2 and 3 we’ll learn more advanced phonograms and exceptions.

Ready? Let’s go!

Pronunciation Practice

-ack

attack, back, crack, snack, track, unpack

-ail

fail, mail, tail, trail, railroad, sailboat

-ain

main, rain, plain, Spain, train

-ake

bake, cake, make, earthquake, snake

-ame

came, game, name, same, flame

-an

can, fan, ran, plan, tan

-ank

bank, drank, thank, sank

-ap

map, nap, clap, strap, wrap

-ash

cash, crash, rash, mash

-at

cat, hat, rat, flat, that

-ate

ate, hate, late, plate, state

-aw

law, jaw, raw, draw

-ay

day, may, say, stay, play

-eat

meat, beat, seat, cheat, repeat

-ell

bell, sell, tell, smell, yell

-est

best, guest, rest, chest

-ice

ice, rice, nice, slice, twice

-ick

kick, pick, quick, thick, trick

-ide

ride, wide, pride, slide

-ight

light, night, right, flight, bright

-ill

bill, fill, will, skill, still

-in

in, skin, thin, twin

-ine

fine, mine, nine, shine

-ing

king, ring, spring, thing, bring

-ink

pink, sink, drink, stink, think

-ip

lip, rip, chip, trip, skip

-it

hit, fit, sit, quit, split

-ock

rock, sock, clock, shock, knock

-oke

joke, broke, smoke, spoke, woke

-op

top, drop, shop, stop, crop

-ore

more, wore, score, shore, store

-ot

got, lot, not, shot, plot

-uck

duck, stuck, truck

-ug

bug, hug, drug, shrug, thug

-ump

bump, dump, jump, pump

-unk

junk, sunk, shrunk, trunk

Speak English more clearly & confidently!

Pronunciation Practice with Phonograms - Part 1 Espresso English

Learn more about the Pronunciation Course