Vowel Teams & Graphemes
This word has the /ɜː/ sound spelled with ir, and ends in –st. It’s an ordinal number.
What is first?
The prefix af– in this word comes from ad–, meaning “to.” The word means “to agree or say something is true.”
What is affirm?
This word ends in –ing and describes a sly grin.
What is smirking?
This one-syllable noun has /d/ + /ɜː/ (spelled ir) + /t/. Add -y to make an adjective meaning “not clean.”
What is dirt?
This word has the /ɜː/ sound spelled with ir, but the ending is –th.
What is birth?
This word has the prefix circum– meaning “around” and the root –fer meaning “carry.” Together, it means the distance carried around a circle.
What is circumference?
This word ends in –cus but makes the /s/ sound with c.
What is circus?
This clothing word starts with the /ʃ/ phoneme spelled sh, then has /ɜː/ spelled ir.
What is shirt?
This word has /kw/ at the start, spelled with qu, and ends with the vowel sound /i/ written with y.
What is quirky?
This word has circum– (around) and –spect (look). It means to “look around carefully before deciding.”
What is circumspect?
This word ends with –rm and describes something solid or strong.
What is firm?
This verb begins with the consonant blend /st/, followed by /ɜː/ spelled ir. Double the final consonant before -ing.
What is stir? (→ stirring)
This word has the /ɪə/ sound in the second syllable, spelled with –ven–ir.
What is souvenir?
This word uses circum– (around) and navigate (to travel). It means to travel all the way around the world.
What is circumnavigate?
This word ends with –rd and has the /ɜː/ sound in the middle.
What is bird?
This noun has hard /g/ + /ɜː/ spelled ir + /l/. Add -ish to make an adjective about being like a young female.
What is girl? (→ girlish)
This long word has the /ɪə/ sound spelled with –rious and can be split into 4 syllables. It means to think or speak in a way that is not reasonable because of mental confusion.
What is delirious?
This word uses circum– (around) and vent from venire (to come). It means to “come around” something, often rules or problems.
What is circumvent?
his word ends with –rd as well, but means “position number three.”
What is third?
This multisyllable word uses the Latin prefix circum– (around). It means “a situation or condition we can’t control.”
What is circumstance?