ea – One spelling many sounds
The system of spelling and sounds can seem crazy in English. Sometimes we write the /k/ sound with the letter k. Sometimes we write it with c as in candy, or with ch as in chemistry, or even with qu as in plaque. Actually, it’s not quite so difficult because most of the time we spell /k/ with k or c. But you get my point- it’s important to remember that you need to learn the individual spelling for words, rather than just guess. Lets now look at a common letter combination in English which has five possible sounds: ea.
Exercise 1:
- Listen to the recordings of five of the English vowels and diphthongs: /e/, /i:/, /ɪə/, /eə/ and /ei/.
Mobile users: Swipe screen to left to see other words.
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Exercise 2: The sounds of ea
- Once you are familiar with each sound, drag and drop each word in the table below into the correct box, according to the sound of ea in the word.
- If you need, you can listen to the words by clicking the blue button below (opens in a new tab and if you are on a mobile, you will need to swipe left to see other words).