Phonics word list

Er words

In short

Er is an r-controlled vowel that says /er/, as in her, fern and butter. It is the most common spelling of /er/, especially at the end of a word. Our checked list has 2,103 words where er says /er/.

At a glance

Words in our list: 2,103
By syllables: one syllable: 46 · two syllables: 1,090 · three or more syllables: 967
Taught in: Lesson 80 in the sequence

Er 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

46 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
her	h·er	1	Lesson 23 (heart word)
per	p·er	1	Lesson 80
term	t·er·m	1	Lesson 80
were	w·er·e	1	Lesson 20 (heart word)
serve	s·er·v·e	1	Lesson 80
terms	t·er·m·s	1	Lesson 80
served	s·er·v·ed	1	Lesson 80
serves	s·er·v·e·s	1	Lesson 80
herd	h·er·d	1	Lesson 80
jerk	j·er·k	1	Lesson 80
verb	v·er·b	1	Lesson 80
merge	m·er·g·e	1	Lesson 80
nerve	n·er·v·e	1	Lesson 80
terse	t·er·s·e	1	Lesson 80
verbs	v·er·b·s	1	Lesson 80
verse	v·er·s·e	1	Lesson 80
merged	m·er·g·ed	1	Lesson 80
nerves	n·er·v·e·s	1	Lesson 80
termed	t·er·m·ed	1	Lesson 80
fern	f·er·n	1	Lesson 80
germ	g·er·m	1	Lesson 117
herb	h·er·b	1	Lesson 80
hers	h·er·s	1	Lesson 23
perk	p·er·k	1	Lesson 80
pert	p·er·t	1	Lesson 80
berth	b·er·th	1	Lesson 80
clerk	c·l·er·k	1	Lesson 80
ferns	f·er·n·s	1	Lesson 80
germs	g·er·m·s	1	Lesson 117
herbs	h·er·b·s	1	Not in the sequence
herds	h·er·d·s	1	Lesson 80
jerks	j·er·k·s	1	Lesson 80
perch	p·er·ch	1	Lesson 80
perks	p·er·k·s	1	Lesson 80
stern	s·t·er·n	1	Lesson 80
verge	v·er·g·e	1	Lesson 80
verve	v·er·v·e	1	Lesson 80
berths	b·er·th·s	1	Lesson 80
clerks	c·l·er·k·s	1	Lesson 80
jerked	j·er·k·ed	1	Lesson 80
perked	p·er·k·ed	1	Lesson 80
sterns	s·t·er·n·s	1	Lesson 80
swerve	s·w·er·v·e	1	Lesson 80
versed	v·er·s·ed	1	Lesson 80
perched	p·er·ch·ed	1	Lesson 80
swerved	s·w·er·v·ed	1	Lesson 80

Two syllables

The 60 most common of 1,090 words. 1,030 more are in our list.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
ever	e·v·er	2	Lesson 80
over	o·v·er	2	Lesson 80
user	u·s·er	2	Lesson 80
after	a·f·t·er	2	Lesson 80
alter	a·l·t·er	2	Lesson 93
cover	c·o·v·er	2	Lesson 80
enter	e·n·t·er	2	Lesson 80
fewer	f·ew·er	2	Lesson 115
inner	i·nn·er	2	Lesson 80
later	l·a·t·er	2	Lesson 80
lower	l·ow·er	2	Lesson 86
never	n·e·v·er	2	Lesson 80
nicer	n·i·c·er	2	Lesson 109
offer	o·ff·er	2	Lesson 80
older	o·l·d·er	2	Lesson 80
order	or·d·er	2	Lesson 80
other	o·th·er	2	Lesson 50 (heart word)
outer	ou·t·er	2	Lesson 96
owner	ow·n·er	2	Lesson 86
paper	p·a·p·er	2	Lesson 80
power	p·ow·er	2	Lesson 96
refer	r·e·f·er	2	Lesson 80
river	r·i·v·er	2	Lesson 80
safer	s·a·f·er	2	Lesson 80
under	u·n·d·er	2	Lesson 80
upper	u·pp·er	2	Lesson 80
users	u·s·er·s	2	Lesson 80
water	w·a·t·er	2	Lesson 54 (heart word)
wider	w·i·d·er	2	Lesson 80
alters	a·l·t·er·s	2	Lesson 93
answer	a·n·s·w·er	2	Not in the sequence
better	b·e·tt·er	2	Lesson 80
bigger	b·i·gg·er	2	Lesson 80
bother	b·o·th·er	2	Lesson 80
buffer	b·u·ff·er	2	Lesson 80
clever	c·l·e·v·er	2	Lesson 80
closer	c·l·o·s·er	2	Lesson 80
corner	c·or·n·er	2	Lesson 80
covers	c·o·v·er·s	2	Lesson 80
danger	d·a·n·g·er	2	Lesson 117
derive	d·er·i_e·v	2	Lesson 80
differ	d·i·ff·er	2	Lesson 80
dinner	d·i·nn·er	2	Lesson 80
driver	d·r·i·v·er	2	Lesson 80
either	ei·th·er	2	Not in the sequence
enters	e·n·t·er·s	2	Lesson 80
expert	e·x·p·er·t	2	Lesson 80
faster	f·a·s·t·er	2	Lesson 80
father	f·a·th·er	2	Lesson 94
finger	f·i·n·g·er	2	Lesson 80
former	f·or·m·er	2	Lesson 80
gather	g·a·th·er	2	Lesson 80
harder	h·ar·d·er	2	Lesson 80
header	h·ea·d·er	2	Lesson 94
higher	h·igh·er	2	Lesson 87
insert	i·n·s·er·t	2	Lesson 80
larger	l·ar·g·er	2	Lesson 109
latter	l·a·tt·er	2	Lesson 80
leader	l·ea·d·er	2	Lesson 85
lesser	l·e·ss·er	2	Lesson 80

Three or more syllables

The 60 most common of 967 words. 907 more are in our list.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
every	e·v·er·y	3	Lesson 39b (heart word)
easier	ea·s·i·er	3	Lesson 110
eraser	e·r·a·s·er	3	Lesson 80
another	a·n·o·th·er	3	Lesson 80
average	a·v·er·a·g·e	3	Lesson 80
battery	b·a·tt·er·y	3	Lesson 80
deliver	d·e·l·i·v·er	3	Lesson 80
earlier	ear·l·i·er	3	Lesson 113
federal	f·e·d·er·a·l	3	Lesson 80
forever	f·or·e·v·er	3	Lesson 111
general	g·e·n·er·a·l	3	Lesson 117
however	h·ow·e·v·er	3	Lesson 96
integer	i·n·t·e·g·er	3	Lesson 117
manager	m·a·n·a·g·er	3	Lesson 109
officer	o·ff·i·c·er	3	Lesson 109
operate	o·p·er·a_e·t	3	Lesson 80
overall	o·v·er·a·ll	3	Lesson 80
recover	r·e·c·o·v·er	3	Lesson 80
several	s·e·v·er·a·l	3	Lesson 80
utterly	u·tt·er·l·y	3	Lesson 80
whoever	wh·o·e·v·er	3	Lesson 80
altering	a·l·t·er·i·ng	3	Lesson 93
compiler	c·o·m·p·i·l·er	3	Lesson 80
computer	c·o·m·p·u·t·er	3	Lesson 80
consider	c·o·n·s·i·d·er	3	Lesson 80
covering	c·o·v·er·i·ng	3	Lesson 80
customer	c·u·s·t·o·m·er	3	Lesson 80
delivers	d·e·l·i·v·er·s	3	Lesson 80
deriving	d·er·i·v·i·ng	3	Lesson 109
disaster	d·i·s·a·s·t·er	3	Lesson 80
discover	d·i·s·c·o·v·er	3	Lesson 80
entering	e·n·t·er·i·ng	3	Lesson 80
exercise	e·x·er·c·i_e·s	3	Lesson 117
external	e·x·t·er·n·a·l	3	Lesson 80
generate	g·e·n·er·a_e·t	3	Lesson 117
governor	g·o·v·er·n·or	3	Lesson 111
inserted	i·n·s·er·t·ed	3	Lesson 80
integers	i·n·t·e·g·er·s	3	Lesson 117
interact	i·n·t·er·a·c·t	3	Lesson 80
interest	i·n·t·er·e·s·t	3	Lesson 80
internal	i·n·t·er·n·a·l	3	Lesson 80
interval	i·n·t·er·v·a·l	3	Lesson 80
numerous	n·u·m·er·ou·s	3	Not in the sequence
offering	o·ff·er·i·ng	3	Lesson 80
operates	o·p·er·a_e·t·s	3	Lesson 80
ordering	or·d·er·i·ng	3	Lesson 80
personal	p·er·s·o·n·a·l	3	Lesson 80
powerful	p·ow·er·f·u·l	3	Lesson 96
properly	p·r·o·p·er·l·y	3	Lesson 80
property	p·r·o·p·er·t·y	3	Lesson 80
recovers	r·e·c·o·v·er·s	3	Lesson 80
register	r·e·g·i·s·t·er	3	Lesson 117
remember	r·e·m·e·m·b·er	3	Lesson 80
services	s·er·v·i·c·e·s	3	Lesson 80
terminal	t·er·m·i·n·a·l	3	Lesson 80
together	t·o·g·e·th·er	3	Lesson 80
whatever	wh·a·t·e·v·er	3	Lesson 80
whenever	wh·e·n·e·v·er	3	Lesson 80
wherever	wh·e·r·e·v·er	3	Lesson 80
advertise	a·d·v·er·t·i_e·s	3	Lesson 80

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 80	1,298
Lesson 84	45
Lesson 85	70
Lesson 96	58
Lesson 109	73
Lesson 110	79
Lesson 117	62
Lesson 119	58
Not in the sequence	107

How do you teach er words?

Teach er first of the three /er/ spellings. "E and r team up and say /er/." Read her, fern, term, then longer words like letter, sister and winter. Er at the end of a two-syllable word is extremely common, so practice that group well.

What mistake do students make with er words?

In spelling, students choose ir or ur for er. A simple guide helps: at the end of a word, er is the best bet. In the middle, keep a three-column chart and add words as they come.

Where do er words come in the sequence?

Er usually comes after ar, or and ore, and before ir and ur. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 80.

Exceptions worth knowing

In where and there, er after e says /air/. In here and mere, ere says /ear/. The suffix -er (teacher, bigger) is the same sound and spelling.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 80 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

Her sister has a letter.
The fern is in the corner.
We had dinner in winter.

Questions people ask

What are 5 er words?

Her, per, term, were, serve. Those are the five most common of the 2,103 words where er says /er/ in our checked list.

Which is the most common spelling of the er sound?

Er. It is much more common than ir and ur, especially at the end of a word.

What are common er words?

Her, after, never, under, water, butter, sister and number.

When can a student read er words?

Er words are taught at Lesson 80 in the lesson sequence we use. 1,309 of the 2,103 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.