Phonics word list

Diphthong words

In short

A diphthong is a vowel sound that glides from one position to another inside one syllable. In phonics, the diphthongs taught are /oi/ in coin and boy and /ow/ in out and cow. Our checked list has 781 words with the diphthongs oi, oy, ou or ow.

At a glance

Words in our list: 781
By syllables: one syllable: 216 · two syllables: 435 · three or more syllables: 130
Taught in: Lesson 96 in the sequence

Diphthong 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.

oi (oil, join)

The 40 most common of 133 words. 93 more are in our list.

oi (oil, join)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
oil	oi·l	1	Lesson 95
join	j·oi·n	1	Lesson 95
joins	j·oi·n·s	1	Lesson 95
joint	j·oi·n·t	1	Lesson 95
noise	n·oi·s·e	1	Lesson 95
point	p·oi·n·t	1	Lesson 95
voice	v·oi·c·e	1	Lesson 95
choice	ch·oi·c·e	1	Lesson 95
joined	j·oi·n·ed	1	Lesson 95
points	p·oi·n·t·s	1	Lesson 95
avoid	a·v·oi·d	2	Lesson 95
noisy	n·oi·s·y	2	Lesson 95
avoids	a·v·oi·d·s	2	Lesson 95
joining	j·oi·n·i·ng	2	Lesson 95
pointed	p·oi·n·t·ed	2	Lesson 95
pointing	p·oi·n·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 95
pointless	p·oi·n·t·l·e·ss	2	Lesson 95
avoided	a·v·oi·d·ed	3	Lesson 95
avoiding	a·v·oi·d·i·ng	3	Lesson 95
boil	b·oi·l	1	Lesson 95
coin	c·oi·n	1	Lesson 95
soil	s·oi·l	1	Lesson 95
void	v·oi·d	1	Lesson 95
boils	b·oi·l·s	1	Lesson 95
coins	c·oi·n·s	1	Lesson 95
spoil	s·p·oi·l	1	Lesson 95
boiled	b·oi·l·ed	1	Lesson 95
coined	c·oi·n·ed	1	Lesson 95
joints	j·oi·n·t·s	1	Lesson 95
spoils	s·p·oi·l·s	1	Lesson 95
devoid	d·e·v·oi·d	2	Lesson 95
noises	n·oi·s·e·s	2	Lesson 95
poison	p·oi·s·o·n	2	Lesson 95
toilet	t·oi·l·e·t	2	Lesson 95
voices	v·oi·c·e·s	2	Lesson 95
appoint	a·pp·oi·n·t	2	Lesson 95
boiling	b·oi·l·i·ng	2	Lesson 95
choices	ch·oi·c·e·s	2	Lesson 95
coining	c·oi·n·i·ng	2	Lesson 95
exploit	e·x·p·l·oi·t	2	Lesson 95

oy (boy, joy)

The 40 most common of 58 words. 18 more are in our list.

oy (boy, joy)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
boy	b·oy	1	Lesson 95
joy	j·oy	1	Lesson 95
annoy	a·nn·oy	2	Lesson 95
enjoy	e·n·j·oy	2	Lesson 95
annoys	a·nn·oy·s	2	Lesson 95
annoyed	a·nn·oy·ed	2	Lesson 95
destroy	d·e·s·t·r·oy	2	Lesson 95
destroys	d·e·s·t·r·oy·s	2	Lesson 95
destroyed	d·e·s·t·r·oy·ed	2	Lesson 95
annoying	a·nn·oy·i·ng	3	Lesson 95
employee	e·m·p·l·oy·ee	3	Lesson 95
destroying	d·e·s·t·r·oy·i·ng	3	Lesson 95
toy	t·oy	1	Lesson 95
boys	b·oy·s	1	Lesson 95
ploy	p·l·oy	1	Lesson 95
toys	t·oy·s	1	Lesson 95
loyal	l·oy·a·l	2	Lesson 95
royal	r·oy·a·l	2	Lesson 95
employ	e·m·p·l·oy	2	Lesson 95
enjoys	e·n·j·oy·s	2	Lesson 95
employs	e·m·p·l·oy·s	2	Lesson 95
enjoyed	e·n·j·oy·ed	2	Lesson 95
employed	e·m·p·l·oy·ed	2	Lesson 95
employer	e·m·p·l·oy·er	3	Lesson 95
enjoying	e·n·j·oy·i·ng	3	Lesson 95
annoyance	a·nn·oy·a·n·c·e	3	Lesson 95
employees	e·m·p·l·oy·ee·s	3	Lesson 95
employers	e·m·p·l·oy·er·s	3	Lesson 95
employing	e·m·p·l·oy·i·ng	3	Lesson 95
enjoyment	e·n·j·oy·m·e·n·t	3	Lesson 95
employment	e·m·p·l·oy·m·e·n·t	3	Lesson 95
enjoyable	e·n·j·oy·a·b·le	4	Lesson 95
unemployment	u·n·e·m·p·l·oy·m·e·n·t	4	Lesson 95
coy	c·oy	1	Lesson 95
joys	j·oy·s	1	Lesson 95
ploys	p·l·oy·s	1	Lesson 95
toyed	t·oy·ed	1	Lesson 95
coyer	c·oy·er	2	Lesson 95
boyish	b·oy·i·sh	2	Lesson 95
joyful	j·oy·f·u·l	2	Lesson 95

ou (out, bound)

The 40 most common of 437 words. 397 more are in our list.

ou (out, bound)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
out	ou·t	1	Lesson 96
bound	b·ou·n·d	1	Lesson 96
count	c·ou·n·t	1	Lesson 96
doubt	d·ou·b·t	1	Not in the sequence
found	f·ou·n·d	1	Lesson 96
house	h·ou·s·e	1	Lesson 96
mouth	m·ou·th	1	Lesson 96
pound	p·ou·n·d	1	Lesson 96
round	r·ou·n·d	1	Lesson 96
route	r·ou·t·e	1	Lesson 96
sound	s·ou·n·d	1	Lesson 96
south	s·ou·th	1	Lesson 96
counts	c·ou·n·t·s	1	Lesson 96
ground	g·r·ou·n·d	1	Lesson 96
pounds	p·ou·n·d·s	1	Lesson 96
sounds	s·ou·n·d·s	1	Lesson 96
grounds	g·r·ou·n·d·s	1	Lesson 96
about	a·b·ou·t	2	Lesson 96
outer	ou·t·er	2	Lesson 96
amount	a·m·ou·n·t	2	Lesson 96
around	ar·ou·n·d	2	Lesson 111
county	c·ou·n·t·y	2	Lesson 96
layout	l·ay·ou·t	2	Lesson 96
loudly	l·ou·d·l·y	2	Lesson 96
output	ou·t·p·u·t	2	Lesson 96
account	a·cc·ou·n·t	2	Lesson 96
amounts	a·m·ou·n·t·s	2	Lesson 96
council	c·ou·n·c·i·l	2	Lesson 117
counted	c·ou·n·t·ed	2	Lesson 96
counter	c·ou·n·t·er	2	Lesson 96
outside	ou·t·s·i_e·d	2	Lesson 96
sounded	s·ou·n·d·ed	2	Lesson 96
without	w·i·th·ou·t	2	Lesson 96
accounts	a·cc·ou·n·t·s	2	Lesson 96
announce	a·nn·ou·n·c·e	2	Lesson 96
counting	c·ou·n·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 96
discount	d·i·s·c·ou·n·t	2	Lesson 96
doubtful	d·ou·b·t·f·u·l	2	Not in the sequence
printout	p·r·i·n·t·ou·t	2	Lesson 96
sounding	s·ou·n·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 96

ow (how, now)

The 40 most common of 153 words. 113 more are in our list.

ow (how, now)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
how	h·ow	1	Lesson 96
now	n·ow	1	Lesson 96
down	d·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
town	t·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
brown	b·r·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
allow	a·ll·ow	2	Lesson 96
power	p·ow·er	2	Lesson 96
allows	a·ll·ow·s	2	Lesson 96
powers	p·ow·er·s	2	Lesson 96
allowed	a·ll·ow·ed	2	Lesson 96
somehow	s·o·m·e·h·ow	2	Lesson 96
however	h·ow·e·v·er	3	Lesson 96
allowing	a·ll·ow·i·ng	3	Lesson 96
nowadays	n·ow·a·d·ay·s	3	Lesson 96
powerful	p·ow·er·f·u·l	3	Lesson 96
bow	b·ow	1	Lesson 96
cow	c·ow	1	Lesson 96
wow	w·ow	1	Lesson 96
cows	c·ow·s	1	Lesson 96
gown	g·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
crowd	c·r·ow·d	1	Lesson 96
crown	c·r·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
drown	d·r·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
frown	f·r·ow·n	1	Lesson 96
towns	t·ow·n·s	1	Lesson 96
browse	b·r·ow·s·e	1	Lesson 96
crowds	c·r·ow·d·s	1	Lesson 96
drowns	d·r·ow·n·s	1	Lesson 96
frowns	f·r·ow·n·s	1	Lesson 96
browsed	b·r·ow·s·ed	1	Lesson 96
drowned	d·r·ow·n·ed	1	Lesson 96
frowned	f·r·ow·n·ed	1	Lesson 96
tower	t·ow·er	2	Lesson 96
vowel	v·ow·e·l	2	Lesson 96
flower	f·l·ow·er	2	Lesson 96
powder	p·ow·d·er	2	Lesson 96
shower	sh·ow·er	2	Lesson 96
towers	t·ow·er·s	2	Lesson 96
crowded	c·r·ow·d·ed	2	Lesson 96
flowers	f·l·ow·er·s	2	Lesson 96

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 95	180
Lesson 96	528
Lesson 98	4
Lesson 109	18
Lesson 110	5
Lesson 111	3
Lesson 114	8
Lesson 117	6
Not in the sequence	24

How do you teach diphthong words?

Have the student feel the glide. "Say /oi/ slowly. Your mouth starts round and ends in a smile." Teach oi and oy together, then ou and ow. Position helps both pairs: oi and ou go in the middle, oy and ow at the end. The tables here are grouped by spelling so students see the pairs.

What mistake do students make with diphthong words?

Students read oi as /ō/ /ĭ/ (two vowels). Underline the team and say, "One sliding sound." In spelling, oy and oi get swapped; check whether the sound comes at the end.

Where do diphthong words come in the sequence?

Diphthongs usually come after the long vowel teams, near the end of the vowel unit. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 96.

Exceptions worth knowing

Technically long i and long a are diphthongs too, since the mouth glides in them. Most phonics programs use the word only for oi, oy, ou and ow.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 96 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

The boy found a coin.
The cow is out of the house.
Join the crowd.

Questions people ask

What are 5 diphthong words?

Boy, how, joy, now, oil. Those are the five most common of the 781 words with the diphthongs oi, oy, ou or ow in our checked list.

What are the diphthongs?

In phonics: /oi/ spelled oi and oy, and /ow/ spelled ou and ow. Some linguists also count long i, long a and long o.

What is the difference between a diphthong and a digraph?

A digraph is two letters for one sound. A diphthong is one sound that glides. Oi is both a vowel digraph and a diphthong.

When can a student read diphthong words?

Diphthong words are taught at Lesson 96 in the lesson sequence we use. 708 of the 781 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.