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

Year 2 spelling: words with a, or and ar after w and qu

The letter w often changes the sound of the vowel that follows it. In Year 2, children learn three patterns: an a after w or qu usually says “o” (want, watch, squash), an or after w says “er” (word, work, world), and an ar after w says “or” (war, warm, towards). These spellings look wrong to a child who is reading by sound, so they have to be learned as patterns.

Spellings after w and qu, explained

In Year 1, children learn that the letter a usually says its short sound, as in cat, and that or says “or”, as in fork, and ar says “ar”, as in car. Then they meet the words want, word and warm and find that the same letters make different sounds. The three Year 2 patterns all have one thing in common: a w (or, in the first pattern, qu) comes just before the vowel and changes the sound it makes. “Watch out for w” is a quick way to remember it at home.

The first pattern is a after w and qu. Normally a says the sound in cat, but after w it says the short “o” sound of hot: want, wander, wasp, watch, swan, wallet and wash. After qu it does the same: squash, squad and quantity. Because the sound is “o”, a child who is spelling by sound writes “wont” or “woch”, so the a has to be learned. A handful of words with a after w, such as wax, swam and wag, keep their usual short a sound, so the guidance is something to look at rather than a rule that works every time.

The second pattern is or after w, which says “er” rather than “or”: word, work, worm, world, worth and worse. The easiest way for a child to learn this is by grouping the words into a family and saying them in a chant. The third pattern is ar after w, which says “or” rather than “ar”: war, warm, warn, swarm, towards and wardrobe. The two patterns swap over: after w, the letters or say “er”, and the letters ar say “or”. That is confusing, so it helps to put worm (spelt or) and warm (spelt ar) side by side.

Children are not expected to understand why English works like this. All they need is to notice that when w is in front of one of these vowel groups, the usual sound rules change. Practise the three families as separate lists, and use them in sentences so the words are part of real writing. Because many of these words are very common in stories and everyday talk, children get many chances to meet them again.

Words your child will hear

Vowel
The letters a, e, i, o and u. In these words the vowel changes sound after w.
Sound pattern
A group of words that follow the same spelling idea, such as want, watch and wasp.
Digraph
Two letters that make one sound. In word and warm, or and ar are digraphs.
Word family
Words that share a spelling pattern, such as war, warm, warn and swarm.
Exception
A word that doesn’t follow the pattern, such as wax or swam.
Short vowel
A vowel sound like the a in cat or the o in hot.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

  • Spell the /ɒ/ sound as a after w and qu
  • Spell the /ɜ:/ sound as or after w
  • Spell the /ɔ:/ sound as ar after w

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

Try it: choosing the right letters

Spell each word from its clue: to wish for something, to look at a film or a game, a fruit drink that you add water to, what you do at a job, and not cold but not hot.

  1. Say each word slowly and notice what comes just before the vowel sound. In all five words there is a w, or a qu or squ, at the start.
  2. Want, watch and squash all have the short “o” sound after the w or the qu. The vowel letter is an a, not an o: want, watch, squash. Say the word again afterwards: the “o” sound is in the speech but the a is in the spelling.
  3. Work has an “er” sound after the w, and that is spelt or: work. Put it in the same family as word, world and worm, which are all spelt with wor.
  4. Warm has an “or” sound after the w, and that is spelt ar: warm. Put it in a different family, with war, warn and swarm.
  5. Compare worm and warm. They look almost the same, but the vowel letters are swapped. Remember that wor- says “wer” and war- says “wor”.

want, watch, squash, work, warm

Common mistakes and how to help

Spelling the short “o” sound as o: “wont”, “woch”, “skwosh”

Children write the letters they would expect for the sound. Writing o for the “o” sound is correct everywhere else, so it feels like the right choice.

What helps: Keep a family list (want, watch, wash, wasp) and say the rule together: “after w, the letter a says o.” A short, rhythmic line like that is easy to remember.

Spelling word and work as “wurd” or “werk”

The “er” sound has many spellings (er, ir, ur), and children pick the one they know best.

What helps: Make a list of the wor words: word, work, world, worm, worth. Say them in a row as a rhythmic chant, then cover and write them.

Mixing up worm and warm, or writing “wor” for war

Both words have the same letters in a different order, and both have vowels that sound different from the usual.

What helps: Say them aloud as “wurm” and “wawm”. Pair up warm with war and warn, and keep worm with word and work.

Using the pattern everywhere: reading wax as “wox”, or writing “wabble” for wobble

A child who has just learned a pattern wants to use it everywhere. A few words, such as wax, swam and wag, keep the usual short a, and a few, such as wobble, spell the “o” sound with an o.

What helps: Explain that it is a pattern for lots of words, not all. Read the word aloud and ask whether it sounds like want or like cat.

How to help at home

  • Three families. Write the words on cards and sort them into three piles: a for “o” (want, watch, squash), wor (word, work, world) and war (war, warm, warn). Make a new pile for any word you find that doesn’t fit.
  • Chant it. Make up a rhythm for the wor words: “word, work, world, worm”. Clapping or stamping along helps children remember the order of letters and the sound together.
  • Sentence challenge. Ask your child to write one sentence using as many of the words as they can, such as “We want to watch the warm squash work.” Silly is fine, and they will check it for sense as they read.
  • Word hunt. Look for w words in a favourite book. Ask your child to find ones with a, or and ar after the w, then to read each aloud and notice which sound the vowel makes.

Related topics

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More on spelling – English Appendix 1

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