Phonetic Alphabet Book by Cheryl Paton, Letter A

Below is an example of what you'll find in The Phonics Guide: A guide to reading and spelling patterns.

Aa

A is the first letter of the alphabet. A is a vowel.

A represents its short sound as in at and tap. A represents its long sound as in ate and cape.

Short vowel patterns for A include:

A followed by a consonant
Sam mat bag tap

AI as short A
plaid

AU as short A
laugh

Long vowel patterns for A are:

A, consonant, silent e as long A
same make plate grape wade

AI as long A
aim aid rain train grain

Note: The AI pattern represents three different sounds. The AI represents the short A sound in plaid, and the long A sound in aim, and also the short E sound as in the word said.

AY as long A
say pray lay stay may

Note: The AI pattern is found at the beginning or the middle of the word. The AY pattern is predominantly found at the end of the word. An exception is the word crayon.

Other vowel patterns that represent the sound of long A are:

EA as long A
steak break great

Note: The EA pattern can represent the sound for long A, short E, and long E. See the Alphabet section Ee.

EI as long A
vein

EIGH as long A
weigh weight freight neighbor

Note: The EI in the above words stands for the long A sound and the letters GH are silent.

EY as long A
they prey

Note: the EY pattern can also represent the long E sound as in key. See the Alphabet section Ee.

When A is paired with and immediately precedes the letter R, the A appears to be silent, as it sounds like you are just saying the letter name R:

AR
are car far star

When the letter E immediately follows the letters AR, then the ARE pattern can also sound like you are saying the word air:

ARE as the AIR sound
care share stare dare

A is also paired with IR, (AIR)
AIR
hair fair lair

A is also used in another pattern, representing a new sound; a dipthong, a blend of two vowel sounds in one syllable. Such a pattern is AU.

AU
cause pause August

Note that the AU represents the same sound that the AW represents in paws.

Your feedback is welcome as this Phonetic Alphabet Book gets published in blog form. I will try to clarify anything you have questions about, and make it clearer. Thank you.

copyright Cheryl Paton

Cheryl Paton

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