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Year 2 English · Key Stage 1 · Spelling – English Appendix 1

Year 2 spelling: soft c, soft g, kn, gn and wr

Some of the sounds in English can be spelt in more than one way, and Year 2 children start to choose between them. They learn the j sound at the end of words (age, badge), the s sound spelt with a c (city, race), and three silent-letter starts: kn as in knock, gn as in gnat and wr as in write. These are patterns to notice and remember, not rules with no exceptions, and they build on the sounds learned in Year 1.

Soft c, soft g, kn, gn and wr, explained

In Year 1, children learn the main spelling for each sound. In Year 2 they find out that the same sound can have several spellings, and that position in the word often decides which one to use. Teachers revise the Year 1 sound patterns as new words come up, so you will see old and new spellings mixed in your child’s work. Saying the word and listening for its sounds is still the first step, but now your child also has to remember which spelling of a sound that word uses.

The j sound (as in jam) is spelt in three main ways. Before a, o and u it is spelt j, as in jam, jog and jump, but at the end of an English word it is never j. At the end, children choose between -ge and -dge by listening to the sound just before it. Straight after a short vowel sound the ending is -dge: badge, edge, bridge, dodge, fudge. After any other sound, such as a long vowel or a consonant, the ending is -ge: age, huge, large, change. Elsewhere in a word, the j sound is sometimes spelt with a g when it comes before e, i or y, as in gem, giant, magic and gym. The word “sometimes” matters here: get, give and girl also have a g before e or i, but it is a hard g. This pattern needs to be learned word by word.

The s sound is often spelt with a c when it comes before e, i or y: race, ice, city, cell, cycle. This is called a soft c. A c before a, o, u or a consonant is a hard c, as in cat, cot, cup and clap. Plenty of words still use s before these letters (sit, set), so children learn which words take the c. When a child writes “sity” or “rase”, the sound is spelt correctly in sound terms but not in the English way. A good habit is to try a spelling and then look at it to see if it looks right. If it doesn’t, they can try another.

Three silent-letter starts are taught in Year 2. In kn words, such as knock, knee, knife and know, the k is silent, and the n sound is written kn. Gn words, such as gnat and gnaw, are rarer, so children only meet a few. In wr words, such as write, wrong, wrap and wrist, the w is silent. Many of these letters were once pronounced in older English, which helps explain why the spellings look odd today, but you don’t need to teach that to a seven-year-old. A simple way is to say the words in a funny voice, pronouncing the silent letter on purpose, to fix the spelling in memory.

Words your child will hear

Soft c
The letter c when it says the s sound, which happens before e, i or y, as in city.
Soft g
The letter g when it says the j sound, as in gem, giant and gym.
Silent letter
A letter we write but don’t say, such as the k in knock or the w in write.
Short vowel
A vowel sound like the a in badge or the e in edge.
Digraph
Two letters that together make one sound, such as kn, gn or wr, where the n or r sound is written with two letters.
Hard g
The letter g when it says the sound in get, give and girl.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

  • Spell the /dʒ/ sound as ge and dge at the end of words, and sometimes as g elsewhere in words before e, i and y
  • Spell the /s/ sound as c before e, i and y
  • Spell the /n/ sound as kn and (less often) gn at the beginning of words
  • Spell the /r/ sound as wr at the beginning of words

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

Try it: choosing the right spelling

Spell these five words from the clues: something you pin on your coat (the j sound at the end), something very large, a big town, what you do on a door, and what you do with a pencil.

  1. Badge: say it slowly, “b-a-j”. The j sound is at the end of the word and English words don’t end in j. The vowel before it is short, so the ending is -dge: badge.
  2. Huge: this one has the j sound at the end too. The u here says its long sound, as in “you”, not a short one, so we use the other ending: -ge. Compare badge (short vowel, -dge) with huge (long vowel, -ge).
  3. City: the first sound is s, followed by an i. The soft c comes before e, i and y, so it is spelt c: city. A spelling such as “sity” would sound right but doesn’t look like an English word.
  4. Knock: the first sound is n, but this is a word where the n at the start is spelt kn. The k stays silent. The ending is ck, which children learned in Year 1.
  5. Write: the first sound is r, but r at the start of this word is spelt wr. The w is silent. Check it against “wrong” and “wrap”, which start the same way.

badge, huge, city, knock, write

Common mistakes and how to help

Ending a word with j, such as “bridj” or “caj”

J is the most direct way to spell the sound, and it is how children first see it in words like jam and jump.

What helps: Tell them English words don’t end in j, and sort words that end in the j sound into -ge and -dge by listening to the vowel before the ending.

Using -ge after a short vowel, or -dge after a long one: “bage” or “hudge”

Both endings sound identical, so children have only the vowel sound to decide with, and the pattern takes a lot of practice.

What helps: Say both words and listen to the vowel. If it is short, use dge. Keep a list of -dge words together and a list of -ge words together.

Believing every g before e, i or y is soft

Words like gem and giant show the pattern, so children assume it always works. Get, give and girl break it.

What helps: Explain that g before e or i is only sometimes soft, and that the word has to be learned. Sorting words into soft and hard piles is a quick game.

Spelling silent-letter words as they sound: “nock”, “rite”, “nat”

Children are taught to write the sounds they hear, so they leave out the silent letter. They have no way of knowing it is there.

What helps: Treat them as words to learn, one pair at a time. Writing the silent letter in a different colour makes it stand out.

How to help at home

  • Silly silent letters. Say knock, knee, write and wrong aloud with the silent letter spoken, as “k-nock” and “w-rong”. The silly voice makes the spelling memorable, and it is fun to try.
  • Sort the sounds. Write words such as badge, edge, age, huge, large and bridge on separate bits of paper. Ask your child to sort them into -dge and -ge, then say what they notice about the vowel in each group.
  • Hunt for soft c. On a walk or at the shops, look for c before e, i or y on signs and packaging: city, centre, circle, cycle. Ask whether the c is saying s or k.
  • Look, cover, write, check. Choose three tricky words a week. Your child looks at a word, covers it, writes it from memory and checks it. Keep it short and stop while it still feels easy.

Related topics

Builds on

Leads on to

More on spelling – English Appendix 1

Everything in Year 2 English

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