How to say phonics sounds: pure sounds, not “muh”

01

What is a pure sound, and why does it matter?

A pure sound is a letter sound said on its own, with nothing added. The sound for m is a hum, “mmm”, not “muh”. The sound for s is a hiss, “sss”, not “suh”. The sound for t is a tiny tap of the tongue, not “tuh”.

Most grown-ups were taught “muh”, “tuh” and “buh”, or picked them up without noticing. It is a very natural habit: when we say a consonant by itself, our voice wants to finish on a vowel. So please don’t worry if you have been doing it. It is easy to change once you can hear it.

The extra “uh” gets in the way of blending

To read a new word, your child says each sound in turn and pushes them together. That is called blending. With pure sounds, c-a-t slides straight into “cat”. With an extra “uh” on each consonant, your child is really blending “cuh-a-tuh”, and however fast they say it, it comes out closer to “cuhatuh” than “cat”. Children who are taught pure sounds usually find it easier to hear the word appear.

Pure sounds help with spelling too. To write a word, your child breaks it into its sounds and writes a letter or two for each one. An “uh” that isn’t really in the word only adds something to puzzle over.

In the blend lab, every sound is a real recording of a pure sound. For the “uh” version we have simply joined our short “u” sound straight on after each consonant, so you can hear exactly what changes.

02

Stretchy sounds and bouncy sounds

Many schools sort consonant sounds into two kinds, because each kind needs a slightly different trick to say it purely.

Stretchy sounds keep going for as long as you have breath: s, m, f, n, l, r, v, z, sh, th and ng. Hold them: “sssss”, “mmmmm”, “fffff”. Because they can be held, they are the easiest sounds to blend. You can stretch one into the next, “mmmaaap”, and the word is already there. The vowel sounds can be held for a moment too.

Bouncy sounds stop the air, so they cannot be stretched: p, b, t, d, k (written c or k) and g. The sounds ch and j are short too. Say these as quickly and lightly as you can, and stop before your voice adds an “uh”. For p, t and k it can help to say them almost in a whisper.

If you are not sure what the pure sound is, listen to the end of a word you know. The last sound in “map” is a pure p, and the last sound in “cat” is a pure t. You would never say “mapuh”.

03

Phonics sounds chart with audio

Spoken English has about 44 sounds, depending on accent, but only 26 letters to write them with. So some sounds are written with two letters (a digraph, like sh or ai) and a few with three (a trigraph, like igh or air).

• 2626letters in the alphabet
• 4444sounds in English, roughly
• 4646sounds to hear below

Below is every sound in our app, recorded the pure way. Most tiles are one sound. A few, like x (“ks”), qu (“kw”) and nk, join two sounds together, and are taught as one tile because they are so common.

Children usually start in Reception with single letters. Many schools begin with s, a, t, p, i and n, because they make lots of little words straight away: sat, pin, tap, nap. The consonant teams and vowel teams follow later in the year. In Year 1, children learn that the same sound can be spelt in different ways, like ai in rain, ay in play and a-e in cake.

04

The phonics sounds grown-ups often get wrong

A handful of sounds catch out almost everyone. Some are letters that hold two sounds, like x and qu. Some are sounds we usually say with a vowel stuck on, like h, r, l, w and y. And a couple are spelt the same way but said two ways, like th and oo.

You don’t need to get every one perfect. Your child’s teacher will be modelling them every day, and children are very good at copying. But if you notice yourself saying “ruh” or “wuh”, these cards are a quick way to retune your ear.

05

Letter names and letter sounds: what’s the difference?

Every letter has a name and a sound. The letter m is called “em”, and it makes the sound “mmm”. The letter h is called “aitch”, and its sound is just a breath, “h”. The names are what we use in the alphabet song. The sounds are what we use to read.

That is why phonics teaches the sounds first. If a child reads c-a-t using letter names, they get “see-ay-tee”, which never blends into “cat”. Using sounds, it does.

Letter names are still useful, and children do learn them, usually a little later. They help when talking about spelling (“cat is spelt with a c, not a k”) and when the same sound has several spellings. Lots of children pick up the names from songs and books long before school teaches them.

At home, a simple rule works well: when you are reading or sounding out words together, use the sounds. When you are talking about which letter a word starts with, you can say “the letter called em, which makes the sound mmm”.

06

How to practise phonics sounds at home

A few minutes most days does more than a long session once a week. Keep it playful, and stop while your child is still enjoying it.

• Say it, then they say it. You model the pure sound, your child copies. A mirror helps: you can both watch lips and tongues.
• Sound spotting. Play “I spy something that starts with sss” using the sound, not the letter name.
• Start blending with stretchy sounds. Words like sun, man, fan and nap are the easiest first words to blend, because you can hold the first sound while you get ready for the next.
• Match your school. Schools say a few sounds slightly differently. If your child says one in a way you don’t expect, ask them to teach you how their teacher says it.

Once single sounds are secure, children move on to tricky words, which can’t be fully sounded out, and in Year 1 to the phonics screening check, where pure sounds really pay off on the made-up “alien” words. For more on how the app works, see the grown-ups’ guide.