Phoneme Pronunciation

Phoneme pronunciation is key to accurate blending. It’s ‘ssssss’ not ‘suh’. We want a pure sound, without the ‘uh’ at the end. Listen to each phoneme, hear how to blend the phonemes together, and see the word.

Why Phoneme Pronunciation Matters

When teaching synthetic phonics, how you pronounce each phoneme makes a real difference. If a child learns to say ‘cuh-a-tuh’ instead of ‘c-a-t’, blending becomes much harder. The key is to keep each sound as pure and short as possible.

Use the tables below to hear the correct pronunciation of every phoneme, along with blending examples and words across the Basic Code, Advanced Code, and Complete the Code.

Jo-Anne Dooner explains why phoneme pronunciation is so important:

Hear How to Pronounce the Phonemes

Click on a phoneme to hear it pronounced. Click on a word to hear it blended, or click on the picture to hear the whole word. Use the tabs to switch between the Basic Code, Advanced Code, and Complete the Code.

Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6

Phoneme	Blend 1	Blend 2
Unit 1
s	gas	sap
m	mat	mop
c	cat	act
t	sat	top
g	tag	gap
p	pat	tap
a	map	cap
o	pot	cot
Unit 2
r	rip	rat
l	log	lip
d	dad	dim
b	bus	bat
f	fin	fat
h	hot	ham
i	imp	sip
u	mud	tub
Unit 3
v	van	vet
w	wet	wig
y	yum	yes
z	zip	zap
j	jam	jog
n	nip	tin
k	kip	kit
e	ten	pet
Unit 4
ll	yell	hill
ss	fuss	kiss
zz	buzz	jazz
ff	cuff	huff
Unit 5
ch	chip	chop
sh	cash	shop
th	moth	thin
wh	whip	what
Unit 6
ck	kick	duck
ng	thing	song
qu	quiz	quit
x	wax	box

Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6

Phoneme	Blend 1	Blend 2
Unit 2
e	she	me
ee	bee	sheep
ea	leaf	meat
y	jelly	puppy
Unit 3
i	rind	child
igh	night	fight
y	cry	spy
ie	pie	tie
i_e	kite	fire
Unit 4
o	pony	go
oa	boat	coat
ow	snow	crow
o_e	bone	rope
Unit 5
a	baby	apron
ai	snail	rain
ay	hay	play
a_e	plane	cake
Unit 6
oo	moon	tooth
ew	screw	chew
ue	blue	glue
u_e	prune	flute

Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Unit 8
Unit 9
Unit 10
Unit 11
Unit 12
Unit 13
Unit 14

Phoneme	Blend 1	Blend 2
Unit 1
r	rat	rain
rr	lorry	berry
wr	wrench	write
Unit 2
oy	boy	royal
oi	oil	toilet
Unit 3
ph	elephant	dolphin
f	fish	fat
ff	puff	cuff
Unit 4
ow	cow	owl
ou	cloud	couch
Unit 5
c	princess	pencil
ce	police	prince
s	sun	socks
se	house	mouse
ss	dress	chess
Unit 6
u	bull	pull
oo	book	foot
oul	should	could
Unit 7
ar	car	shark
a	mask	fast
Unit 8
ir	girl	bird
er	perm	alert
ear	pearl	learn
ur	turn	hurt
or	artwork	word
Unit 9
or	fork	corn
au	August	sauce
aw	paw	jaw
al	walk	ball
ore	store	snore
Unit 10
air	fairy	chair
ear	pear	bear
are	hare	scare
ere	nowhere	there
Unit 11
j	jam	jelly
dge	fridge	bridge
ge	pigeon	orange
g	giraffe	magic
Unit 12
ch	chill	chin
tch	witch	switch
tu	pasture	picture
Unit 13
sh	ship	fish
ci	musician	magician
ti	martian	lotion
Unit 14
s	treasure	measure
si	television	explosion

Ready to teach phonics with confidence?

Our structured resources guide you through every phoneme, every lesson, step by step. Browse our resources or get in touch to learn more.