The letter “O” is the 4th vowel of the English alphabet, and like all vowels, it has a “long” and a “short” sound. The “long O” sounds like “Oh”, while the “short O” sound sounds like “Awe”.

Here are some examples of long /o/ words spelled with letters ow:

• row.
• snow.
• borrow.
• elbow.
• hollow.
• meadow.
• swallow.
• window.

The phonics short o sound is the vowel sound in “hop,” “top,” “mop,” “tot,” “pot,” and “lot.” Other o sounds are the long o, as in “mode” or “toad,” and the double o, as in “mood.” All these different sounds that one letter can make can be confusing for a new reader!

The “short” vowel sounds cannot occur at the end of a syllable in English. They must be followed by a consonant. In linguistics, they are called “checked” vowels. We actually have six of them, the other one being “u/oo” as in “put” or “good”.

In these words the letter y makes a consonant sound. In both these sets the sound of the letter y is a vowel sound. yo-yo. Read the following words and decide if the letter y has a vowel sound or a consonant sound….Y: When is it a vowel?

Typically, in a one syllable word the “y” at the end of the word makes the long “i” sound as in the following words: cry, fry, try. Typically, in a two syllable word, the “y” at the end of the word makes a long “e” sound as in baby and city.

The Y rule: When a root ends in y, change the y to i when adding a suffix (easy + est = easiest; happy + ness = happiness). Exceptions: Keep the y if a vowel comes before it (play + er = player; joy + ful = joyful).

Study the word list: Plurals: change y to i and add es. When words end in a consonant followed by the letter y , swap the y for an i and add -es. Try not to baffle him with your knowledge.

Keep the y when adding an ending if the word ends in a vowel, then a y (delay-delayed), or if the ending begins with an i (copy-copying). Change the y to i when adding an ending if the word ends in a consonant, then a y (pretty-prettiest).

hurry

This opens in a new window. We change the “y” to ” i” when adding suffix endings if a word ends in a consonant + Y. Although the adjective happy ends in the letter ‘y’, the related noun happiness is spelled with an ‘i’ (not a ‘y’): …

The basic rule is, for any word that ends in a consonant plus “-y,” change the “y” to “i” if adding a suffix or forming a plural.

RULE: If a word ends in -y preceded by a consonant, change the y to -i, then add the suffix. (Also remember that the y is kept then adding -ing.)