Sound reference
Phonemes — the sounds that make words
A reference for each sound in the Once curriculum. Each card shows the letter (or letters) students see in our specialized early-reading orthography, the IPA symbol, and an example word. Tap any card to hear the sound pronounced.
A note on our sequence
Once teaches letters in the order below to help students read as many words as possible as quickly as possible. It's not a problem if your curriculum introduces letters in a different order — the Science of Reading research base is consistent.
This sound is /ă/, as in the word ‘trap.’
This sound is /m/, as in the word ‘mine.’
This sound is /t/, as in the word ‘tie.’
This sound is /ē/, as in the word ‘fleece.’
This sound is /s/, as in the word ‘sigh.’
This sound is /ĭ/, as in the word ‘kit.’
This sound is /f/, as in the word ‘find.’
This sound is /d/, as in the word ‘dash.’
This sound is /r/, as in the word ‘risk.’
This sound is /th/, as in the word ‘that.’
This sound is /ŏ/, as in the word ‘lot.’
This sound is /g/, as in the word ‘guy.’
This sound is /l/, as in the word ‘lie.’
This sound is /h/, as in the word ‘high.’
This sound is /ŭ/, as in the word ‘strut.’
This sound is /k/, as in the word ‘car.’
This sound is /b/, as in the word ‘bug.’
This sound is /n/, as in the word ‘never.’
This sound is /sh/, as in the word ‘shy.’
This word is /ī/, as in the sentence, ‘I went to the store.’
This sound is /ā/, as in the word ‘face.’
This sound is /k/, as in the word ‘kind.’
This sound is /v/, as in the word ‘vine.’
This sound is /ō/, as in the word ‘goat.’
This sound is /w/, as in the word ‘wave.’
This sound is /ch/, as in the word ‘cheer.’
This sound is /ŏr/, as in the word ‘car.’
This sound is /ər/, as in the word ‘letter.’
This sound is /ĕ/, as in the word ‘dress.’
This sound is /j/, as in the word ‘jump.’
This sound is /p/, as in the word ‘pack.’
This sound is /ī/, as in the word ‘price.’
This sound is /ĭŋ/, as in the word ‘sing.’
This sound is /y/, as in the word ‘yes.’
This sound is /ks/, as in the word ‘expect.’
This sound is /kw/, as in the word ‘quick.’
This sound is /z/, as in the word ‘zebra.’
This sound is /ū/, as in the word ‘use.’
This sound is /ē/, as in the word ‘keep.’
This sound is /ē/, as in the word ‘each.’
This sound is /ē/, as in the word ‘company.’
This sound is /ē/, as in the word ‘money.’
This sound is /ā/, as in the word ‘pain.’
This sound is /ā/, as in the word ‘ray.’
This sound is /ōr/, as in the word ‘chore.’
This sound is /w/, as in the word ‘when.’
This sound is /ău/, as in the word ‘round.’
This sound is /ər/, as in the word ‘bird.’
This sound is /ər/, as in the word ‘nurse.’
This sound is /ōl/, as in the word ‘fold.’
This sound is /ī/, as in the word ‘fight.’
This sound is /ŏ/, as in the word ‘author.’
This sound is /ŏ/, as in the word ‘awkward.’
This sound is /ŏl/, as in the word ‘alright.’
This sound is /oo/, as in the word ‘cool.’
This sound is /f/, as in the word ‘photo.’
This sound is /ō/, as in the word ‘boat.’
This sound is /ō/, as in the word ‘snow.’
This sound is /r/, as in the word ‘write.’
This sound is /ōē/, as in the word ‘joy.’
This sound is /ōē/, as in the word ‘choice.’
This sound is /n/, as in the word ‘knight.’
This sound is /oo/, as in the word ‘blue.’
This sound is /oo/, as in the word ‘crew.’
Pronunciation videos are published to the Once YouTube channel.
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