Year 2 spelling: words like all, mother, key and treasure

a before l, o, -ey and s spellings, explained

These four patterns are grouped because each one surprises a child who is spelling by sound. Year 1 spelling teaches the usual letters for each sound, but English has a lot of words that go their own way. Teachers revise the older sound patterns as the new ones come up, so these spellings are taught mostly through words that are used all the time, such as all, mother, key and television. That makes them good words to practise, because your child will need them often in their own writing.

The first pattern is the “aw” sound spelt with an a, when the a comes before l or ll. You will see it in all, ball, call, tall, small and always. In walk and talk the l is silent, but the a still says “aw”. Usually the letter a says its short sound, as in cat, so this is a pattern children have to learn: when an a comes before l or ll, it often says “aw”. Not always, though: pal and shall keep the short a.

The second and third patterns are about vowels. The short “uh” sound is often written with an o: other, mother, brother, Monday, month, some, come, love and money. Some, come and love are on the Year 1 list of common exception words, and money is on the Year 2 list, so your child may already know them. The long “ee” sound at the end of some words is written -ey, as in key, donkey, monkey, valley and chimney. A natural guess is -y, as in happy, so the -ey words need to be learned. To make a plural, children add an s without changing anything: keys, donkeys, valleys. They don’t turn the y into i here, because there is a vowel before it.

The last pattern is the soft “zh” sound, which is the sound you hear in television, treasure, measure, usual and vision. The alphabet has no single letter for it, and in these words it is written with an s. Children find this one hard to spell because they hear a sound they can’t match to a letter. It is also fairly rare, which makes it a good one to spot in reading. Once children have met it a few times, seeing the s in the middle of these words begins to feel normal.

Words your child will hear

Common exception words

Everyday words, such as some, come and love, whose spelling doesn’t follow the usual sound patterns and which have to be learned.

Vowel

The letters a, e, i, o and u, and the sounds they make.

Plural

More than one. The plural of key is keys.

Silent letter

A letter we write but don’t say, such as the l in walk and talk.

Sound pattern

A group of words that spell the same sound the same way, such as all, ball and call.

Syllable

A beat in a word. Mother has two syllables, and so do donkey and valley.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

• Spell the /ɔ:/ sound as a before l and ll
• Spell the /ʌ/ sound as o
• Spell the /i:/ sound as –ey
• Spell the /ʒ/ sound as s

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

Try it: spelling a sentence

Common mistakes and how to help

How to help at home

• Word families on the fridge. Start a list of the all words, the o for “uh” words and the -ey words, adding a new one when you meet it in a book or on a sign. Your child can add a drawing for each one.
• Silly sentences. Ask your child to make up a silly sentence that uses two or three of the words, such as “My mother met a donkey in the valley on Monday.” Write it down together and underline the tricky letters.
• Walk and talk. Take a walk with your child and say the “aw” words you can see or think of: wall, tall, ball, small. Notice which ones have a silent l, like walk and talk.
• Say it, then write it. Choose two or three tricky words and say each one in the way it is spelt (“Mon-day” with a clear o, or “mo-ther”). Then your child writes it from memory and checks it.

Related topics

Everything in Year 2 English