Year 1 English · Key Stage 1 · Spelling – English Appendix 1

Year 1 spelling: words ending -y, and ph, wh and k

Three small but common spelling jobs come together in Year 1. Children learn to spell words that end in the sound ee or a short i with the letter y, as in happy and funny. They meet the consonant spellings ph, as in dolphin, and wh, as in when. And they learn that the k sound is usually written with k, not c, before the letters e, i and y, as in kit and skin.

Words ending -y; ph, wh and k, explained

Many words with two or more syllables end in the sound ee, or in a short, quick version of it, as in very, happy, funny and baby. At the end of these words, it is usually spelt with a y, not with ee or ie. Depending on a child’s accent, that last sound may be closer to a long ee or a short i, but the spelling is the same. Pupils learn to expect a y at the end of such words, and the double letters in the middle, as in happy and funny, are part of the word to be learned.

The letters ph are a two-letter team for the f sound. In Year 1 children meet it in a few words only, such as dolphin and alphabet. For short everyday words, f is the usual spelling, as in fish, fun and off, so ph is a pattern to notice, not to use freely. It looks odd to children because the p and the h are not heard on their own.

The letters wh are another two-letter team. They begin many question words: what, when, where, which and why. In most accents wh sounds just like w, so a child who sounds out when will often write “wen”. Children learn wh as a spelling to remember, and the question-word link gives them a useful anchor.

The k spelling is about choosing between two letters for one sound. The sound k can be written with a c, as in cat, cot and cup, or with a k, as in kit, Kent, skin and sketch. The guidance is that the sound is spelt k, not c, before e, i and y, so kit and Kent start with k, and skin, sketch and sky use k after the s. Before a, o and u it is usually c, as in cat, cot and cup. Children also meet ck at the end of short words, as in back. Knowing which letter follows helps a child avoid writing “cit” for kit or “kat” for cat.

All three of these topics are about choosing between spellings that could sound alike. That is why writing words correctly takes more than sounding out. Teachers often show them as sets of words in small groups, such as the wh question words, and have children say, read and write each set until it looks familiar. As with all Year 1 spelling, the aim is to build habits and memory, and to praise a sensible attempt before showing the usual spelling.

Words your child will hear

Digraph: Two letters that together make one sound. In this topic ph (the f sound) and wh (the w sound) are digraphs.
Syllable: A beat in a word. Happy has two syllables: hap-py.
Vowel: A letter such as a, e, i, o or u that stands for a vowel sound, the open sound every syllable needs. The letter y can stand for a vowel sound too.
Consonant: A letter that is not a vowel, such as k, c, f or w.
Question word: A word that begins a question, such as what, when, where, which or why.
Alternative spelling: A different way of writing the same sound, such as f and ph, or c and k.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 1, pupils should be taught to:

Spell words ending –y (/i:/ or /ɪ/)
Spell words with the new consonant spellings ph and wh
Use k for the /k/ sound

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: spelling four tricky words

Your child hears the words “dolphin”, “when”, “happy” and “skin” and has to spell them. How do they decide on the tricky letters?

Dolphin: say the sounds slowly: d, o, l, f, i, n. That is six sounds. The f sound is written ph in this word, so there are seven letters: d-o-l-ph-i-n. The letters ph are a team that makes one sound.
When: hear the sounds w, e, n. It begins with the w sound, but it is one of the question words, and those nearly all start wh. The word is wh-e-n. Check it against what, where and which, which all begin the same way.
Happy: say it in two beats, hap-py. The last sound is ee (or a short i), and it comes at the end of a word with more than one syllable, so it is written y. The double p is part of the word and is something to learn.
Skin: hear the sounds s, k, i, n. The k sound comes before the letter i, so it is written k, not c: s-k-i-n. Compare with cat, where the same sound comes before a and is written c.
Read each word back, pointing to each part, and check the four tricky bits: ph, wh, y and k.

dolphin, when, happy, skin

Common mistakes and how to help

Writing “dolfin” or “fone”, using f instead of ph

The f spelling is by far the most common for that sound and the one children know best. Nothing in the sound of the word tells them that ph is used.

What helps: Show ph as a small set of special words to learn by sight, starting with dolphin and alphabet. Point out that in short everyday words, such as fish and fun, it is f.

Writing “wen”, “wich” or “ware” instead of when, which and where

In most accents wh and w sound the same, so the wh spelling can’t be heard.

What helps: Group the question words and learn them together: what, when, where, which, why. Say them as a set and write them in a column, with the wh underlined.

Spelling the end of happy, funny or baby with ee, as in “happee”, or leaving it off, as in “hap”

Ee is usually the first spelling children learn for that sound, and they know y mainly as the consonant at the start of words such as yes and yellow. The idea that y can also make a vowel sound is new.

What helps: Build a list of words that end in y, with the y underlined: happy, funny, very, baby. Clap the syllables to show that the y comes at the end of the last beat.

Using c for the k sound before i or e, as in “cit” for kit

Both c and k can make the k sound, and cat is a word children learn early. They apply the c spelling too widely.

What helps: Say that k usually comes before e, i and y, and c before a, o and u. Sort words by their first letter: cat, cot, cup in one column, and kit, Kent, king in another.

How to help at home

Question word wall. Write what, when, where, which and why on separate cards and put them on the fridge. Underline the wh in each. Then play a game of questions where your child has to ask using a different wh word each time.
Y at the end. See how many words you and your child can think of that end in y: happy, funny, sunny, baby, pony, puppy. Write them in a list and underline the y. Clap the syllables to hear where it falls.
Dolphin and alphabet detective. Write dolphin and alphabet on a card and circle the ph in each. Talk about how the ph says f. Look for these words in books or on posters, and see if you can find any others, such as phone.
C or K sort. Write a list of words, such as cat, kit, cup, king, cot, kind and kettle. Ask your child to sort them into two columns, one for words starting with c and one for words starting with k, and say what they notice about the letters that come next.
Word shop. Pretend to run a shop where every item name has to be spelt right on a sign. Items such as a kit, a skirt, a sketch pad, a toy dolphin or a funny hat give your child a reason to write the tricky letters carefully.

Leads on to

Year 2: Soft c, soft g, kn, gn and wr
Year 2: Endings -le, -el, -al, -il and -y
Year 2: Changing y, dropping e, doubling
Year 2: a before l, o, -ey and s spellings
Year 2: Spellings after w and qu
Year 2: Suffixes -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, -ly
Year 2: Contractions and apostrophes
Year 2: Homophones and tricky words