Tricky Words: Why Some Words Cannot Be Sounded Out
Your child sounds out cat and stop without blinking, then hits said and grinds to a halt. Tricky words are words that cannot be worked out with the sounds a child has been taught yet, so the right thing to do is simply tell them the word and carry on. They are not a test of memory, they are not a sign that anything is slipping, and there is very little to be gained from making your child stare at one. Here is what they are, what your school calls them, and what actually helps at home.
What is a tricky word?
It is a common word that does not behave. In every phonics programme, children are taught sounds in a set order and given books built from those sounds. A handful of very frequent words cannot be built that way, either because they contain a spelling the child has not met yet or because the word does not follow the usual pattern at all. Those get taught as whole words instead.
The list is short. Most of what your child reads is decodable, and the tricky words are the small set of words too useful to leave out of a book until the spelling has been taught.
Why can some words not be sounded out?
Two different reasons, and it is worth knowing which is which.
The first is timing. He, she, we and me are perfectly regular, but they use a spelling a Reception child meets later in the year. Until then, the word is simply ahead of the child and gets taught as a whole.
The second is genuine irregularity. Said, one and of do not play by the rules at all. Nobody sounds those out. Adults do not either, which is easy to forget.
Tricky words are not the hard part of reading. They are the small pile of exceptions you carry while the real work goes on.
What does my child's school call them?
Different programmes use different names for the same idea, which causes a lot of unnecessary confusion at the kitchen table.
| Programme | What they are called | What children are told to do |
|---|---|---|
| Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised | Tricky words | Learn them as whole words, by term |
| Letters and Sounds | Tricky words | Learn them as whole words, by phase |
| Read Write Inc | Red words | Stop and think rather than sounding out |
| Essential Letters and Sounds | Harder to read and spell words | Learn them as whole words |
Read Write Inc is the clearest about the switch. Ordinary words there are green words, which are decodable with taught sounds. Red words are the exceptions, and children are told to stop and think rather than Fred Talk them, so they have a signal that this word needs a different move.
Which words are tricky words?
It depends entirely on the programme and on how far through it your child is. Little Wandle, for instance, sets them out term by term across Reception.
| Term | Tricky words introduced |
|---|---|
| Reception Autumn 1 | is, I, the |
| Reception Autumn 2 | put, pull, full, as, and, has, his, her, go, no, to, into, she, push, he, of, we, me, be |
| Reception Spring 1 | was, you, they, my, by, all, are, sure, pure |
| Reception Summer 1 | said, so, have, like, some, come, love, do, were, here, little, says, there, when, what, one, out, today |
A programme built on the older Letters and Sounds framework spreads a similar set across the phases instead: the, to, I, no, go and into in Phase 2, then he, she, we, me, be, was, you, they, all, are, my and her in Phase 3, and said, so, have, like, some, come, were, there, little, one, do, when, out and what in Phase 4. Our guide to the Letters and Sounds phases sets the whole progression out if you want to see where your child sits.
The overlap is obvious, and that is reassuring. Whichever programme your school uses, your child is learning much the same handful of very common words in much the same order.
What do I do when my child stops on one?
Wait five seconds first. Most children who are going to get there get there at about four, and jumping in early teaches them to wait for you rather than to try.
If the word is decodable, give them the sounds rather than the word. "S-t-o-p" hands them the win, while saying "stop" takes it away. If the word is a tricky word, do the opposite. Say it, cheerfully, straight away. There is no benefit at all in a child sitting in front of said trying to make it work, because it does not work. Tell them and read on.
The most common mistake at home is treating tricky words like a challenge. They are not. They are a piece of information your child has not been given yet, and giving it takes one second.
Should we use flashcards at home?
Only in small doses, and only if your child likes them. A minute of the current term's words before you open the book is plenty, and it works best as a quick game rather than a drill.
What works better for most families is meeting the words in real sentences over and over. A word your child has read twenty times inside a story they enjoyed is more securely known than a word they have seen forty times on a card. If you do use cards, use only the words your school is currently working on, not a list from the internet that runs three terms ahead.
Why can they read it on a card but not in a book?
Because recognising a word in isolation and finding it inside a line of print are different jobs. In a book your child is also decoding the words around it, tracking the line and holding the meaning. The tricky word arrives when the tank is already half empty.
This is normal and it fades. It fades fastest with easy books read more than once, because fluency is built by reading easy text quickly rather than hard text slowly. The second read of a page is where tricky words usually stop being tricky.
Do tricky words stay tricky?
No, and this is the part that cheers parents up. Most of them stop being tricky the moment the relevant spelling gets taught. Once a child has been taught the sound in the middle of he and she, those words are simply readable and nobody mentions them again.
The truly irregular ones stay irregular, but there are very few of them and your child will have met them hundreds of times by the end of Year 1. Reading them will be automatic long before anybody worries about it.
My child is meeting -ing and -ed now. Is that the same thing?
No, and it is a good sign rather than a worry. In Bug Club Phonics, the Green 1 band sits in Phase 6, where the new content is suffixes: -ing, -ed, -er, -est, and plural -s and -es. Green 2 adds the prefixes un-, re- and dis-, and the suffixes -ful, -less and -ness.
That stage teaches no new sounds at all, which is exactly why parents read it as stalling. It is not. It is the stage where reading gets faster and spelling gets tidier, and it is a normal part of the progression rather than a holding pattern. Our guide to Bug Club Phonics books explains how the colour bands and the phases line up, including the fluency bands that come after Green.
When is it worth raising with the teacher?
- Your child cannot read the current term's tricky words after several weeks of meeting them.
- Words that were secure last term have gone.
- Your child tries to sound out every tricky word and cannot be persuaded to stop.
- The book coming home needs help on more than about one word in ten.
- Reading at home has turned into a nightly argument.
None of these means anything is wrong, and none of them is something to diagnose from a list. They mean a teacher who hears your child read every week has information you do not, and a two minute conversation at the door is the right next step. Say what you are seeing and ask what they see in class.
Where Lindo Phonics comes in
The best practice for a tricky word is meeting it often, inside a story a child actually wants to finish. Our stories are matched to the published progression of your school's programme, so a story only uses sounds your child has already been taught and only the tricky words they have already met, with your child's own name in the story. If you want the background on why that fit matters, our guide to Little Wandle books at home covers it from the other direction.
Lindo Phonics is not connected to Pearson Bug Club Phonics and is not endorsed by them. We match the published progression so a story only uses sounds your child has already been taught.
Common questions
What is a tricky word?
It is a common word that cannot be worked out using the sounds your child has been taught so far, so it is taught as a whole word instead. The list is short and the rest of what they read is decodable.
Should my child try to sound out a tricky word?
No. Tell them the word and carry on. There is nothing to be gained from a child staring at said trying to make the sounds work, because they do not.
Why are some regular words on the tricky list?
Usually timing. Words like he, she, we and me are perfectly regular but use a spelling that gets taught later in the year, so until then they are learned whole.
What are red words?
That is the Read Write Inc name for the same idea. Green words are decodable with taught sounds, and red words are exceptions, where children are told to stop and think rather than Fred Talk them.
What does Essential Letters and Sounds call them?
Harder to read and spell words. The idea is the same as tricky words or red words, just with a different label.
How many tricky words will my child learn in Reception?
It depends on the programme, but it is a manageable handful each term rather than a long list. In Little Wandle they are set out term by term, starting with is, I and the.
Should we use flashcards?
In small doses, and only if your child enjoys them. A minute on the words your school is currently working on is plenty, and meeting them in real sentences does more.
My child reads the word on a card but not in the book. Why?
Recognising a word on its own and spotting it inside a line of print are different jobs. In a book your child is decoding, tracking and holding meaning at the same time, so the tricky word arrives when they are already working hard.
How long should I wait before helping?
Five seconds. Most children who are going to get there get there at about four, and helping sooner teaches them to wait for you rather than to try.
Do tricky words stop being tricky?
Most of them do, as soon as the relevant spelling is taught. Only a small number are genuinely irregular, and those become automatic through sheer repetition.
My child is learning -ing and -ed now. Are those tricky words?
No, those are suffixes. In Bug Club Phonics they belong to the Green 1 band in Phase 6, where no new sounds are taught and the work is fluency and spelling instead.
Is it a problem if my child forgets tricky words from last term?
A word or two slipping is ordinary, especially after a holiday. If several words that were secure have gone, mention it to the teacher rather than drilling them at home.
Should I make my own list from the internet?
Better to use the list your school sends home. Lists online often run terms ahead of where your child is, which turns easy practice into something discouraging.
When should I speak to the teacher about tricky words?
If the current term's words have not stuck after several weeks, if your child cannot be persuaded to stop sounding them out, or if reading at home has become a fight. It is a normal thing to ask about.
Only the words they have already met
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