Word Power

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Understanding Tricky Words and Sight Words

In the journey of learning to read, students often encounter Tricky Words (also known as Sight Words or high-frequency words). These are words that do not follow the standard synthetic phonics rules and cannot be easily decoded or "sounded out." Because these words appear so frequently in the English language, it is vital for learners to recognize them by sight. Our curated sight word lists are grouped to help tutors and students focus on these "rule-breakers," building the confidence and word power necessary for fluent reading and writing.

Level 1: Essential Tricky Words

the - The 'e' makes an /uh/ sound instead of /eh/ or /ee/.

to/do - The 'o' makes a /oo/ sound. to, do, into, onto, two

be/me - be, he, me, she, we, the

i/my - I, my, by, fly, sky, try

was - This letter - a says o and this letter -s says z.

go/no - go, no, so, solo

Level 2: Common Exceptions

said - The 'ai' is not pronounced as 'ay'.

have - have, give, live, love

come - The 'o' acts like a short 'u'. come, some, done, none

were - were, there, where, here

you - you, your, yours

they - they, their, them

Level 3: Number & Question Words

one - one, once, alone, only

who - who, what, when, why, where, which, whose, whom

two - two, twice, twelve, twenty

four - four, fourteen, forty, fourth

eight - eight, eighteen, eighty, eighth

Level 4: Advanced Sight Words

could - could, should, would

because - Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants.

thought - thought, though, through, taught

people - The word 'people' has two tricky parts: the digraph 'eo' makes the sound ee* and the grapheme 'le' is not yet decodable.

friend - friend, friends, friendly