Phase 4 tricky words: Reception Summer term

Information for parents and carers

‘Tricky words’ are words that cannot easily be decoded (‘sounded out’ and read). This is because some of the sounds in
the words are spelled in an unusual way. It is important for children to be able to read these words as they are among
the most common words in English.
The table shows the tricky words that your child will learn in Phase 4 in the Summer term of Reception and explains
why each word is tricky. Phase 2 and 3 tricky words that remain tricky at this stage of learning are also shown.
Children will practise the tricky words in school until they can read them automatically. They will also practise reading
the tricky words in the decodable books that they bring home.

Phase 4 Tricky part(s) Why is it tricky?

tricky word
said ai The ‘ai’ makes the sound e.
This is a rare spelling for this sound.
so o The ‘o’ makes the sound oa.
Learning so far: For ‘o’, your child has learned the sound o as in ‘top’.
have ve Your child has not yet learned the digraph ‘ve’, which makes the sound v.
like i–e Your child has not yet learned the split digraph ‘i–e’, which makes the sound igh.
some o–e Your child has not yet learned the digraph ‘o–e’. Here, it makes the sound u.
come
love
do o The ‘o’ makes the sound oo (as in ‘food’).
This is a rare spelling for this sound.
were ere The trigraph ‘ere’ makes the sound ur.
This is a rare spelling for this sound.
here ere Your child has not yet learned the trigraph ‘ere’. Here, it makes the sound ear.
little le Your child has not yet learned the digraph ‘le’, which makes the sound l.
says ay The digraph ‘ay’ makes the sound e.
This is a rare spelling for this sound.
there ere Your child has not yet learned the trigraph ‘ere’. Here, it makes the sound air.
when wh Your child has not yet learned the digraph ‘wh’. Here, it makes the sound w.
what wh Your child has not yet learned the digraph ‘wh’. Here, it makes the sound w.
a The grapheme ‘a’ makes the sound o.
Learning so far: For ‘a’, your child has learned the sound a as in ‘cat’.
one whole word The grapheme ‘o’ makes the sounds w-u*. The digraph ‘ne’ makes the sound n.
*This is a rare spelling.
out ou Your child has not yet learned the different sounds made by the digraph ‘ou’.
today today The word ‘today’ has two tricky parts: the ‘o’ is an unstressed oo (as in ‘food’) that
makes the schwa sound*; the digraph ‘ay’ is not yet decodable.
*This is a rare spelling for this sound.

Phase 3 Tricky part(s) Why is it tricky?

tricky word
was a The ‘a’ makes the sound o.
Learning so far: For ‘a’, your child has learned the sound a as in ‘cat’.
you ou Your child has not yet learned the different sounds made by the digraph ‘ou’. Here,
it makes the sound oo (as in ‘food’).
they ey Your child has not yet learned the different sounds made by the digraph ‘ey’. Here,
it makes the sound ai.
my y The ‘y’ makes the sound igh.
by Learning so far: For ‘y’, child has learned the sound y as in ‘yap’.

© 2022 Wandle Learning Trust. All rights reserved.

 Phase 3 Tricky part(s) Why is it tricky?
tricky word
all a The ‘a’ makes the sound or.
Learning so far: For ‘a’, your child has learned the sound a as in ‘cat’.
are whole word This is a rare spelling of the sound ar.
sure whole word The ‘s’ makes the sound sh. The ‘ure’ makes two sounds (yoo plus the schwa
sound).
These are rare spellings for these sounds.
pure ure The ‘ure’ makes two sounds (yoo plus the schwa sound).
This is a rare spelling for these sounds.

Phase 2 Tricky part(s) Why is it tricky?

tricky word
I i The ‘i’ makes the sound igh.
Learning so far: For ‘i’, your child has learned the sound i as in ‘pin’.
the e It is rare for ‘e’ to make the schwa sound at the end of a word.
put* u The ‘u’ makes the sound oo (as in ‘book’).
pull Learning so far: For ‘u’, your child has learned the sound u as in ‘cup’.
full
push
go o The ‘o’ makes the sound oa.
no Learning so far: For ‘o’, your child has learned the sound o as in ‘dog’.

to o The ‘o’ makes the sound oo (as in ‘food’) or the schwa sound, depending on context.
into Learning so far: For ‘o’, your child has learned the sound o as in ‘dog’.

she e The ‘e’ makes the sound ee.

he Learning so far: For ‘e’, your child has learned the sound e as in ‘egg’.
we
me
be
of f The ‘f’ makes the sound v.
This is a rare spelling for this sound.

*Depending on regional pronunciations, not all children will be taught the words ‘put’, ‘pull’, ‘full’ and ‘push’ as tricky words.

Terminology
Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound that can be identified in words. We also use the term ‘sound’ but your child may
use the word ‘phoneme’. There are 44 phonemes or sounds in the English language.
Grapheme: A letter or group of letters used to represent a phoneme in writing. The way graphemes are used to
represent phonemes in our written language is known as the alphabetic code.
Decode: To break down (‘sound out’) a written word into sounds then blend the sounds together to read the word.
Digraph: A grapheme made of two letters that represent one sound. An example is the ‘sh’ in ‘shop’. Your child may use
the mantra ‘two letters, one sound’ when they spot a digraph.
Schwa: This is the name for the most common sound in English. It is the unstressed sound that we find in many words
and can be spelled in many ways. It makes an ‘uh’ sound, which varies according to accent. Examples include: the,
better, carrot, balloon.
Trigraph: A grapheme made of three letters to represent one sound. An example is the ‘igh’ in ‘sight’. Your child may use
the mantra ‘three letters, one sound’ when they spot a trigraph.

© 2022 Wandle Learning Trust. All rights reserved.