SOUND SYSTEMS

YEAR 1
The sound system forms part of the language content in the Curriculum
Specifications. The vowels and the consonants to be taught are presented in
orthographic form and in phonetics. The phonetic symbols are enclosed in phonemic
notation (/ /). These phonetic symbols are only for teachers reference and not to be
taught to pupils. However, the sounds that are represented by the symbols should be
taught. The vowels and consonants listed below are taught in Year 1. Although each of
the vowels listed has more that one sound, only one sound for each vowel has been
selected to be taught. However, teachers can teach the other sounds if their pupils are
able to handle them. Examples of the sound to be taught are given. Teachers are
encouraged to give more examples for pupils to practise the various sounds.

1. Vowels
1.1. Initial position
a / / - apple, ant, among
a / / - among, away, address, asleep
a / : / - all, awful, audience, auction
e / e / - egg, elephant
e / I / - effect, elastic, electric
e / i: / - eat, easy, equal, evil
i / I / - ink, igloo
o / : / - ox, orange, orchid, order
u / / - umbrella, uncle






1.2. Medial position
a / / - rat, mat
o / / - Rob, Bob
e / e / - Ben, ten
i / I / - sit, pit
u / / - cup, rub

2. Consonants
2.1. initial position
2.1.1. b / b / - ball, bag
2.1.2. c / k / - cat, cow
2.1.3. d / d / - door, desk
2.1.4. f / f / - fan, fish
2.1.5. g / g / - gate, goat
2.1.6. h / h / - horse, hoop
2.1.7. j / / - jar, jack
2.1.8. k / k / - king, kite
2.1.9. l / l / - line, lake
2.1.10. m / m/ - moon, mat
2.1.11. n / n / - nose, night
2.1.12. p / p / - pail, pen
2.1.13. q / kw/ - queen, quack
2.1.14. r / r / - rat, radio
2.1.15. s / s / - sun, sea
2.1.16. t / t / - table, ten
2.1.17. v / v / - van, vase
2.1.18. w / w / - watch, window
2.1.19. x / z / - xylophone
2.1.20. y / j / - yellow, yolk
2.1.21. z / z / - zip, zoo

YEAR 2
The sound system forms part of the language contents in the Year 2 Curriculum
Specifications. The items listed below are to be taught in Tahun 2. The letters to be
taught are presented in the orthographic form and in phonetic. The phonetic symbols
are enclosed in phonemic notation (/ /). These phonetic symbols are only for teachers
use and not to be taught to pupils. However, the sounds represented by the symbols
should be taught. In each item, there are examples of the sounds to be taught and more
examples should be given.

3 Blends
3.1. Initials Blends
3.1.1. bl / bl / blue, black, block, blow
3.1.2. br / br / brown, broom, break, brain
3.1.3. cl /kl / clip, clap, clock, class
3.1.4. cr /kr/ crab, crown, crib, crop
3.1.5. f l /fl/ flag, flip, flop, floss
3.1.6. fr /fr/ frog, frock, fruit, frill
3.1.7. gl /gl/ glass, glad, glue, glow
3.1.8. gr /gr/ grin, green, group, grip
3.1.9. pl /p / plum, plug, plan, play
3.1.10. pr /pr/ pram, press, pray, print
3.1.11. st /st/ stamp, stay, start, tick
3.1.12. sk /sk/ skip, skim, sky, skin
3.1.13. tw / tw / twins, twice twist, twenty
3.1.14. sw / sw / sweet, switch, swim, swell
3.1.15. cl / cl / clap, climb, clap, clutch
3.1.16. bl / bl / blue, blank, blast, blind
3.1.17. br / br / brush, rboom, bread, bring
3.1.18. thr / er / through, threw, thrill
3.1.19. shr / r / shrew, shrine, shriek
3.1.20. st /st / stay, stick, stern
4. Digraphs
4.1 Initial Digraphs
4.1.1 sh / / shy, shoe, shut, shop
4.1.2 ch / / chair, chain, chin, cheek
4.1.3 ph / f / photo, phase, phrase
4.1.4 ch / k / chemical, chemistry, chorus, Christmas
4.1.5 wh / w / which, white, while
4.1.6 wh / h / who, whole
4.1.7 fr / fr / frog, fresh, fried

4.2 Final Digraphs
4.2.1 sh / / fish, dish, cash, mash
4.2.2 ch / / rich, such, much, which
4.2.3 ph / f / photograph, telegraph, graph
4.2.4 ch / k / stomach, headache, ache
4.2.5 gh / f / cough, tough, rough

5 Long sounds Short sounds
5.1 oo / u:/ boot, shoot, root, balloon
5.2 oo / / book, cook, good, foot
5.3 ea / i: / beat , seat, peat, eat
5.4 i / i / bit, sit, dip, tip
5.5 ee / i: / deep, seep, peep, jeep








6. Diphthongs
6.1 ou / / house, loud, round, pound
6.2 ow / / cow , brown, down, clown
6.3 ei / / neigh, weigh, sleigh, beige
6.4 ey / / key, honey, donkey, monkey
6.5 oa / / boat, coat, load, road,
6.6 ie / / pie, tie, lie, die
6.7 ir / / fair, pair, air
6.8 ouse / / house, louse, mouse, blouse

7. Silent Letters

7.1 Silent t 7.2 Silent w 7.3 Silent h 7.4 Silent s
listen wrap hour island
often write honest
whistle wrong heir
two honour
























YEAR 3

The sound system forms part of the language contents in the Year 3 Curriculum
Specifications. The items listed below are to be taught in Year 3. The letters to be
taught are presented in the orthographic form and in phonetic. The phonetic symbols
are enclosed in phonemic notation (/ /). These phonetic symbols are only for teachers
use and not to be taught to pupils. However, the sounds represented by the symbols
should be taught. In each item, there are examples of the sounds to be taught and more
examples should be given.

3 Blends
3.2. Initials Blends
3.1.21. bl / bl / blue, black, block, blow
3.1.22. br / br / brown, broom, break, brain
3.1.23. cl /kl / clip, clap, clock, class
3.1.24. cr /kr/ crab, crown, crib, crop
3.1.25. f l /fl/ flag, flip, flop, floss
3.1.26. fr /fr/ frog, frock, fruit, frill
3.1.27. gl /gl/ glass, glad, glue, glow
3.1.28. gr /gr/ grin, green, group, grip
3.1.29. pl /p / plum, plug, plan, play
3.1.30. pr /pr/ pram, press, pray, print
3.1.31. st /st/ stamp, stay, start, tick
3.1.32. sk /sk/ skip, skim, sky, skin
3.1.33. tw / tw / twins, twice twist, twenty
3.1.34. sw / sw / sweet, switch, swim, swell
3.1.35. cl / cl / clap, climb, clap, clutch
3.1.36. bl / bl / blue, blank, blast, blind
3.1.37. br / br / brush, rboom, bread, bring
3.1.38. thr / er / through, threw, thrill
3.1.39. shr / r / shrew, shrine, shriek
3.1.40. st /st / stay, stick, stern

3.2. Final blends
3.2.1. sk / / desk, task, mask
3.2.2. st / / nest, best, must, dust

4. Digraphs
4.1 Initial Digraphs
4.1.1 sh / / shy, shoe, shut, shop
4.1.2 ch / / chair, chain, chin, cheek

4.3 Final Digraphs
4.2.6 sh / / fish, dish, cash, mash
4.2.7 ch / / rich, such, much, which

5 Long sounds Short sounds
5.6 oo / u:/ boot, shoot, root, balloon
5.7 oo / / book, cook, good, foot
5.8 ea / i: / beat , seat, peat, eat
5.9 i / i / bit, sit, dip, tip
5.10 ee / i: / deep, seep, peep, jeep

6 Diphthongs
6.1 ou / / house, loud, round, pound
6.2 ow / / cow , brown, down, clown

7 Silent Letters

7.1 Silent t 7.2 Silent w 7.3 Silent h 7.4 Silent s
listen wrap hour island
often write honest
whistle wrong heir
two honour

YEAR 4

1 Vowels
1.1 Initial position
1.1.1 a / / - apple, ant, among
1.1.2 a / / - among, away, address, asleep
1.1.3 a / : / - all, awful, audience, auction
1.1.4 e / e / - egg, elephant
1.1.5 e / I / - effect, elastic, electric
1.1.6 e / i: / - eat, easy, equal, evil
1.1.8 o / : / - ox, orange, orchid, order

2 Final consonants
2.1.22. l / l / - girl, boil, mail, rail
2.1.23. p / p / - cap, lap, trap, soup
2.1.24. b / b / - cab, lab, grab, grub
2.1.25. t / t / - pat, cat, hurt, put
2.1.26. d / d / - bad, lad, card, afraid

3 Digraphs
3.1 Initial Digraphs
3.1.1 ph / f / photo, phase, phrase
3.1.2 ch / k / chemical, chemistry, chorus, Christmas
3.1.3 wh / w / which, white, while
3.1.4 wh / h / who, whole

3.2 Medial Digraphs
3.2.1 ph / f / elephant, telephone, alphabet
3.2.2 ch / k / school, echo, anchor
3.2.3 ir / / girl, bird, skirt

3.3 Final Digraphs
3.3.1 ph / f / photograph, telegraph, graph
3.3.2 ch / k / stomach, headache, ache

4 Double Consonants
4.1.1 ll / l / - fill, till, drill, pill
4.1.2 pp / p / - tapper, pepper, supper, ripple
4.1.3 rr / r / - terrible, parrot, horror, arrange
4.1.4 tt / t / - butter, fatter, bottle, letter
4.1.5 dd / d / - odd, daddy, ladder, address

5 Blends
5.1 Initials Blends
5.1.1 tw / tw / twins, twice twist, twenty
5.1.2 sk /sk/ skip, skim, sky, skin
5.1.3 sw / sw / sweet, switch, swim, swell

5.2 Final blends
5.2.1 nk / / think, drink, sink
5.2.2 lt / lt / belt, felt, melt
5.2.3 mp / mp / camp, lamp, damp, stamp, ramp
5.2.4 ft / ft / left, soft, gift
5.2.5 nd / nd / bend, friend

6 Diphthongs
6.1 ou / / house, loud, round, pound
6.2 ow / / cow , brown, down, clown
6.3 ei / / neigh, weigh, sleigh, beige
6.4 ey / / key, honey, donkey, monkey
6.5 oa / / boat, coat, load, road,
6.6 ir / / fair, pair, air
7 . Silent letters
7.1 silent k (at the beginning of the word) : knee, knife, kneel, knit
7.2 silent h (at the beginning of the word) : hour, heir
7.3 Silent t (at the middle of the word): listen, often, whistle
7.4 Silent w (at the beginning of the word): wrap, write, wrong (at the middle of the
word): two
7.5 Silent s (at the middle of the word): island

8 Word Contractions

8.1 ll 8.2 re 8.3 nt
Ill were dont
well youre isnt
hell arent

9 Word Contraction

9.1 -est 9.2 -er 9.3 -ed 9.4 -tion
smallest smaller parted station
biggest teacher gifted fiction
eldest bigger folded section
oldest older fitted examination















YEAR 5

1 Vowels
1.1 Initial position
1.1.1 a / / - apple, ant, among
1.1.2 a / / - among, away, address, asleep
1.1.3 a / : / - all, awful, audience, auction
1.1.4 e / e / - egg, elephant
1.1.5 e / I / - effect, elastic, electric
1.1.6 e / i: / - eat, easy, equal, evil
1.1.7 i / I / - ink, igloo
1.1.8 o / : / - ox, orange, orchid, order
1.1.9 u / / - umbrella, uncle

2 Final consonants
2.2 l / l / - girl, boil, mail, rail
2.3 p / p / - cap, lap, trap, soup
2.4 b / b / - cab, lab, grab, grub
2.5 t / t / - pat, cat, hurt, put
2.6 d / d / - bad, lad, card, afraid
2.7 g / g / - dig, big, bag, fig

3 Digraphs
3.1 Initial Digraphs
3.1.1 sh / / shy, shoe, shut, shop
3.1.2 ch / / chair, chain, chin, cheek
3.1.3 ph / f / photo, phase, phrase
3.1.4 ch / k / chemical, chemistry, chorus, Christmas
3.1.5 wh / w / which, white, while
3.1.6 wh / h / who, whole
3.1.7 fr / fr / frog, fresh, fried
3.2 Medial Digraphs
3.2.1 ph / f / elephant, telephone, alphabet
3.2.2 ch / k / school, echo, anchor
3.2.3 ir / / girl, bird, skirt

3.3 Final Digraphs
3.3.1 sh / / fish, dish, cash, mash
3.3.2 ch / / rich, such, much, which
3.3.3 ph / f / photograph, telegraph, graph
3.3.4 ch / k / stomach, headache, ache
3.3.5 gh / f / cough, tough, rough

4 Double Consonants
4.1.1 ll / l / - fill, till, drill, pill
4.1.2 pp / p / - tapper, pepper, supper, ripple
4.1.3 rr / r / - terrible, parrot, horror, arrange
4.1.4 tt / t / - butter, fatter, bottle, letter
4.1.5 dd / d / - odd, daddy, ladder, address

5 Blends
5.1 Initials Blends
5.1.1 bl / bl / blue, black, block, blow
5.1.2 br / br / brown, broom, break, brain
5.1.3 cl /kl / clip, clap, clock, class

6 Diphthongs
6.1 ow / / cow , brown, down, clown
6.2 ei / / neigh, weigh, sleigh, beige
6.3 ey / / key, honey, donkey, monkey
6.4 oa / / boat, coat, load, road,
6.5 ie / / pie, tie, lie, die
7 Silent letters
7.1 silent h (at the beginning of the word) : hour, heir
7.2 Silent t (at the middle of the word): listen, often, whistle
7.3 Silent w (at the beginning of the word): wrap, write, wrong (at the middle of the
word): two
7.4 Silent s(at the middle of the word): island

8 Word Contractions
8.1 ll 8.2 re 8.3 nt
Ill were dont
well youre isnt
hell arent




















YEAR 6

1 Short and Long Vowel Sounds

1.1 / / - cup, pup, rub
1.2 / / - cap, lab, blab
1.3 / o / - lock, frock, tock
1.4 / : / - torn, born

2 Double Consonants
2.1 ll / l / - fill, till, drill, pill
2.2 pp / p / - tapper, pepper, supper, ripple
2.3 rr / r / - terrible, parrot, horror, arrange
2.4 tt / t / - butter, fatter, bottle, letter
2.5 dd / d / - odd, daddy, ladder, address

3 Diphthongs
3.1 ou / / house, loud, round, pound
3.2 ir / / fair, pair, air

4 Silent Letters

4.1 Silent t 4.2 Silent w 4.3 Silent h 4.4 Silent s
listen wrap hour island
often write honest
whistle wrong heir
two honour


5 Blends
5.1 Initials Blends
5.1.1 thr / er / through, threw, thrill
5.1.2 shr / r / shrew, shrine, shriek
5.1.3 st /st / stay, stick, stern


5.2 Final blends
5.2.1 mp / mp / camp, lamp, damp, stamp, ramp
5.2.2 dg / dg / badge, lodge, dodge

6 Voiced and Voiceless th

6.1 th / / 6.2 th / /
The thing
Thee thank
There think