Sight words with a, i, o, o-e / ow / ou / u / oo; ea / ei / ie; ui,
ch, ge/gi, –se, -ure and v,
missing or misleading doubled consonants after short vowels,
redundant letters, 102 words with more than one pronunciation
and a few dozen assorted oddities.
Some of the above 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 common words in which they have a regular pronunciation.
* Words marked with an asterisk have more than one problem or variable pronunciation.
Young children’s progress in reading is most impeded by 190 very common words which contain letters that are not pronounced in their usual way (to be found in the link).
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.
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 affect all readers (when it is pronounced like ai in aim, au in haul, o in not, e in bed).