Phonics word list

Air words

In short

Air spells the r-controlled sound /air/, as in hair, chair and stairs. It sounds the same as are in care. Our checked list has 76 words where air says /air/.

At a glance

Words in our list: 76
By syllables: one syllable: 18 · two syllables: 50 · three or more syllables: 8
Taught in: Lesson 112 in the sequence

Air words, most common first

Spelling units show how each word breaks into the letters that spell one sound; a_e is a vowel and silent e working together. Readable after is the first lesson where a student can sound out the whole word.

One syllable

18 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
air	air	1	Lesson 112
fair	f·air	1	Lesson 112
hair	h·air	1	Lesson 112
pair	p·air	1	Lesson 112
chair	ch·air	1	Lesson 112
pairs	p·air·s	1	Lesson 112
hairs	h·air·s	1	Lesson 112
stair	s·t·air	1	Lesson 112
chairs	ch·air·s	1	Lesson 112
stairs	s·t·air·s	1	Lesson 112
airs	air·s	1	Lesson 112
lair	l·air	1	Lesson 112
aired	air·ed	1	Lesson 112
fairs	f·air·s	1	Lesson 112
flair	f·l·air	1	Lesson 112
haired	h·air·ed	1	Lesson 112
paired	p·air·ed	1	Lesson 112
chaired	ch·air·ed	1	Lesson 112

Two syllables

50 words, most common first.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
affair	a·ff·air	2	Lesson 112
fairly	f·air·l·y	2	Lesson 112
repair	r·e·p·air	2	Lesson 112
affairs	a·ff·air·s	2	Lesson 112
chairman	ch·air·m·a·n	2	Lesson 112
fairy	f·air·y	2	Lesson 112
hairy	h·air·y	2	Lesson 112
fairer	f·air·er	2	Lesson 112
impair	i·m·p·air	2	Lesson 112
unfair	u·n·f·air	2	Lesson 112
airport	air·p·or·t	2	Lesson 112
despair	d·e·s·p·air	2	Lesson 112
fairest	f·air·e·s·t	2	Lesson 112
haircut	h·air·c·u·t	2	Lesson 112
impairs	i·m·p·air·s	2	Lesson 112
repairs	r·e·p·air·s	2	Lesson 112
aircraft	air·c·r·a·f·t	2	Lesson 112
fairness	f·air·n·e·ss	2	Lesson 112
impaired	i·m·p·air·ed	2	Lesson 112
repaired	r·e·p·air·ed	2	Lesson 112
upstairs	u·p·s·t·air·s	2	Lesson 112
staircase	s·t·air·c·a_e·s	2	Lesson 112
downstairs	d·ow·n·s·t·air·s	2	Lesson 112
airy	air·y	2	Lesson 112
airing	air·i·ng	2	Lesson 112
hairdo	h·air·d·o	2	Lesson 112
airline	air·l·i_e·n	2	Lesson 112
airmail	air·m·ai·l	2	Lesson 112
fairies	f·air·ie·s	2	Lesson 112
hairdos	h·air·d·o·s	2	Lesson 112
pairing	p·air·i·ng	2	Lesson 112
airborne	air·b·or·n·e	2	Lesson 112
airfield	air·f·ie·l·d	2	Not in the sequence
airlines	air·l·i_e·n·s	2	Lesson 112
airports	air·p·or·t·s	2	Lesson 112
airstrip	air·s·t·r·i·p	2	Lesson 112
airtight	air·t·igh·t	2	Lesson 112
armchair	ar·m·ch·air	2	Lesson 112
chairing	ch·air·i·ng	2	Lesson 112
despairs	d·e·s·p·air·s	2	Lesson 112
haircuts	h·air·c·u·t·s	2	Lesson 112
hairline	h·air·l·i_e·n	2	Lesson 112
stairway	s·t·air·w·ay	2	Lesson 112
airfields	air·f·ie·l·d·s	2	Not in the sequence
airstrips	air·s·t·r·i·p·s	2	Lesson 112
armchairs	ar·m·ch·air·s	2	Lesson 112
despaired	d·e·s·p·air·ed	2	Lesson 112
stairways	s·t·air·w·ay·s	2	Lesson 112
wheelchair	wh·ee·l·ch·air	2	Lesson 112
wheelchairs	wh·ee·l·ch·air·s	2	Lesson 112

Three or more syllables

8 words, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
impairing	i·m·p·air·i·ng	3	Lesson 112
repairing	r·e·p·air·i·ng	3	Lesson 112
unfairly	u·n·f·air·l·y	3	Lesson 112
disrepair	d·i·s·r·e·p·air	3	Lesson 112
despairing	d·e·s·p·air·i·ng	3	Lesson 112
impairment	i·m·p·air·m·e·n·t	3	Lesson 112
staircases	s·t·air·c·a_e·s·s	3	Lesson 112
impairments	i·m·p·air·m·e·n·t·s	3	Lesson 112

When do these words become readable?

The lessons where the most words on this page become decodable. Words marked not in the sequence have a spelling the sequence never teaches as a pattern.

Lessons where the most words on this page become readable
Readable after	Words
Lesson 112	74
Not in the sequence	2

How do you teach air words?

Teach air with are and ear /air/. "Air says /air/, like the air we breathe." Read air, fair, hair, pair, chair, stairs. Air usually comes at the end of a word or before s or y.

What mistake do students make with air words?

Students spell hair as hare (a real word). Teach homophones by meaning: hair on your head, a hare is a rabbit. Fair and fare, pair and pear are good sorts.

Where do air words come in the sequence?

Air is taught late in most sequences, with are and ear. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 112.

Exceptions worth knowing

In words like airplane and airport, air starts a compound. Prairie has air before a vowel.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 112 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

Sit in the chair.
Brush your hair.
Go up the stairs.

Questions people ask

What are 5 air words?

Air, fair, hair, pair, chair. Those are the five most common of the 76 words where air says /air/ in our checked list.

What sound does air make?

/air/ as in hair. Are (care) and ear (bear) spell the same sound.

What are common air words?

Air, hair, chair, fair, pair, stairs, repair and dairy.

When can a student read air words?

Air words are taught at Lesson 112 in the lesson sequence we use. 74 of the 76 words on this page can be sounded out by then; the rest wait for a pattern taught later, and the tables show the lesson for each word.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of common English words, each split into spelling units and checked against a pronouncing dictionary, so a word is listed under the sound its spelling really makes. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out. The readable after lesson comes from our decodability engine, which checks each spelling unit and syllable pattern against the lesson sequence. You can run your own text through the same engine with the free decodable text checker.