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What sound does the letter y make?

The letter ‘y’ on the end of a word can make a long ‘e’ sound or a long ‘i’ sound.

For example the long ‘e’ sound in words like:

happy, baby, family, funny

The long ‘i’ sound in words like:

my, try, shy

Here we will focus on words that end in ‘y’ that make the long ‘e’ sound.

Before writing words ending in the long ‘e’ sound, you should be confident that you can form the letter ‘y’ correctly. It is a long ladder letter.

Watch: Long ladder letters

Watch this short video to remind yourself about these types of letters.

Activity 1

1. First, practise writing 'y'. You could draw a big ‘y’ in the air, or write it down five times on a piece of paper.

2. Now you’re ready to write. Copy out the words below, adding a ‘y’ on the end of each one.

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• ��������…

• ��������…

• �ڳܲԲ�…

• ���ܲԲ�…

3. Read each word out loud. Can you hear the long ‘e’ at the end of each word?

Activity 2

Read the words in each question carefully.
Click on the two that end with the long 'e' sound.

Activity 3

1. Read the list of words below. Say them a few times. You could use a loud voice, a quiet voice, a robot voice, a wicked witch’s voice or even roar like a lion!

Can you hear the long ‘e’ or 'i' sound at the end?

• funny
• berry
• family
• very

• party
• tummy
• puppy
• curly

• fly
• dry
• sky
• try

2. Now copy and complete the sentences below using the words from the list to fill in the gaps.

(i) The magician made me laugh because he was … .

(ii) I am going to a birthday … tomorrow!

(iii) We are getting a … from the rescue centre.

(iv) It is … hot today.

(v) The … went to the beach.

You can check your answers using this