Phonics word list

R-controlled vowel words

In short

An r-controlled vowel is a vowel followed by r, where the r changes the vowel's sound: ar in car, or in corn, and er, ir and ur, which all say /er/ in her, bird and hurt. Our checked list has 4,514 words with an r-controlled vowel.

At a glance

Words in our list: 4,514
By syllables: one syllable: 619 · two syllables: 2,156 · three or more syllables: 1,739
Taught in: Lesson 77 in the sequence

R-controlled vowel 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.

ar (arm, art)

The 40 most common of 493 words. 453 more are in our list.

ar (arm, art)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
arm	ar·m	1	Lesson 77
art	ar·t	1	Lesson 77
bar	b·ar	1	Lesson 77
car	c·ar	1	Lesson 77
far	f·ar	1	Lesson 77
bars	b·ar·s	1	Lesson 77
card	c·ar·d	1	Lesson 77
dark	d·ar·k	1	Lesson 77
farm	f·ar·m	1	Lesson 77
hard	h·ar·d	1	Lesson 77
harm	h·ar·m	1	Lesson 77
mark	m·ar·k	1	Lesson 77
park	p·ar·k	1	Lesson 77
part	p·ar·t	1	Lesson 77
cards	c·ar·d·s	1	Lesson 77
guard	gu·ar·d	1	Not in the sequence
heart	h·e·ar·t	1	Lesson 77
large	l·ar·g·e	1	Lesson 77
march	m·ar·ch	1	Lesson 77
marks	m·ar·k·s	1	Lesson 77
parts	p·ar·t·s	1	Lesson 77
sharp	sh·ar·p	1	Lesson 77
start	s·t·ar·t	1	Lesson 77
charge	ch·ar·g·e	1	Lesson 77
marked	m·ar·k·ed	1	Lesson 77
starts	s·t·ar·t·s	1	Lesson 77
charged	ch·ar·g·ed	1	Lesson 77
army	ar·m·y	2	Lesson 77
alarm	a·l·ar·m	2	Lesson 77
apart	a·p·ar·t	2	Lesson 77
argue	ar·g·ue	2	Lesson 115
party	p·ar·t·y	2	Lesson 77
argued	ar·g·u·ed	2	Lesson 115
argues	ar·g·ue·s	2	Lesson 115
artist	ar·t·i·s·t	2	Lesson 77
garden	g·ar·d·e·n	2	Lesson 77
harder	h·ar·d·er	2	Lesson 80
hardly	h·ar·d·l·y	2	Lesson 77
larger	l·ar·g·er	2	Lesson 109
market	m·ar·k·e·t	2	Lesson 77

or, ore, oar, our (or, for)

The 40 most common of 697 words. 657 more are in our list.

or, ore, oar, our (or, for)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
or	or	1	Lesson 78
for	f·or	1	Lesson 78
nor	n·or	1	Lesson 78
bore	b·ore	1	Lesson 78
core	c·ore	1	Lesson 78
door	d·oor	1	Lesson 78
form	f·or·m	1	Lesson 78
four	f·our	1	Lesson 78
more	m·ore	1	Lesson 78
port	p·or·t	1	Lesson 78
sort	s·or·t	1	Lesson 78
wore	w·ore	1	Lesson 78
worn	w·or·n	1	Lesson 78
your	y·our	1	Lesson 28 (heart word)
board	b·oar·d	1	Lesson 78
borne	b·or·n·e	1	Lesson 78
court	c·our·t	1	Lesson 78
doors	d·oor·s	1	Lesson 78
floor	f·l·oor	1	Lesson 78
force	f·or·c·e	1	Lesson 78
forms	f·or·m·s	1	Lesson 78
forth	f·or·th	1	Lesson 78
horse	h·or·s·e	1	Lesson 78
north	n·or·th	1	Lesson 78
score	s·c·ore	1	Lesson 78
short	sh·or·t	1	Lesson 78
sorts	s·or·t·s	1	Lesson 78
store	s·t·ore	1	Lesson 78
yours	y·our·s	1	Lesson 28
boards	b·oar·d·s	1	Lesson 78
course	c·our·s·e	1	Lesson 78
forced	f·or·c·ed	1	Lesson 78
formed	f·or·m·ed	1	Lesson 78
fourth	f·our·th	1	Lesson 78
scores	s·c·ore·s	1	Lesson 78
source	s·our·c·e	1	Lesson 78
stored	s·t·or·ed	1	Lesson 78
stores	s·t·ore·s	1	Lesson 78
moral	m·or·a·l	2	Lesson 78
order	or·d·er	2	Lesson 80

er, ir, ur, ear (her, per)

The 40 most common of 2,518 words. 2,478 more are in our list.

er, ir, ur, ear (her, per)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
her	h·er	1	Lesson 23 (heart word)
per	p·er	1	Lesson 80
firm	f·ir·m	1	Lesson 81
girl	g·ir·l	1	Lesson 81
term	t·er·m	1	Lesson 80
turn	t·ur·n	1	Lesson 81
were	w·er·e	1	Lesson 20 (heart word)
earth	ear·th	1	Lesson 113
first	f·ir·s·t	1	Lesson 81
heard	h·ear·d	1	Lesson 113
learn	l·ear·n	1	Lesson 113
serve	s·er·v·e	1	Lesson 80
terms	t·er·m·s	1	Lesson 80
third	th·ir·d	1	Lesson 81
turns	t·ur·n·s	1	Lesson 81
church	ch·ur·ch	1	Lesson 81
learns	l·ear·n·s	1	Lesson 113
search	s·ear·ch	1	Lesson 113
served	s·er·v·ed	1	Lesson 80
serves	s·er·v·e·s	1	Lesson 80
turned	t·ur·n·ed	1	Lesson 81
searched	s·ear·ch·ed	1	Lesson 113
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
dirty	d·ir·t·y	2	Lesson 81
early	ear·l·y	2	Lesson 113
enter	e·n·t·er	2	Lesson 80
fewer	f·ew·er	2	Lesson 115
hurry	h·urr·y	2	Lesson 81
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
occur	o·cc·ur	2	Lesson 81
offer	o·ff·er	2	Lesson 80

air, are, ear, eer (air, bear)

The 40 most common of 301 words. 261 more are in our list.

air, are, ear, eer (air, bear)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
air	air	1	Lesson 112
bear	b·ear	1	Lesson 112
care	c·are	1	Lesson 112
dare	d·are	1	Lesson 112
dear	d·ear	1	Lesson 113
fair	f·air	1	Lesson 112
fear	f·ear	1	Lesson 113
hair	h·air	1	Lesson 112
near	n·ear	1	Lesson 113
pair	p·air	1	Lesson 112
rare	r·are	1	Lesson 112
wear	w·ear	1	Lesson 112
year	y·ear	1	Lesson 113
bears	b·ear·s	1	Lesson 112
cares	c·are·s	1	Lesson 112
chair	ch·air	1	Lesson 112
clear	c·l·ear	1	Lesson 113
pairs	p·air·s	1	Lesson 112
share	sh·are	1	Lesson 112
spare	s·p·are	1	Lesson 112
wears	w·ear·s	1	Lesson 112
years	y·ear·s	1	Lesson 113
clears	c·l·ear·s	1	Lesson 113
shared	sh·are·d	1	Lesson 112
shares	sh·are·s	1	Lesson 112
square	s·qu·are	1	Lesson 112
cleared	c·l·ear·ed	1	Lesson 113
aware	a·w·are	2	Lesson 112
affair	a·ff·air	2	Lesson 112
appear	a·pp·ear	2	Lesson 113
fairly	f·air·l·y	2	Lesson 112
nearby	n·ear·b·y	2	Lesson 113
nearer	n·ear·er	2	Lesson 113
nearly	n·ear·l·y	2	Lesson 113
rarely	r·are·l·y	2	Lesson 112
repair	r·e·p·air	2	Lesson 112
affairs	a·ff·air·s	2	Lesson 112
appears	a·pp·ear·s	2	Lesson 113
bearing	b·ear·i·ng	2	Lesson 112
careful	c·are·f·u·l	2	Lesson 112

or and ar saying /er/ (word, work)

The 40 most common of 505 words. 465 more are in our list.

or and ar saying /er/ (word, work)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
word	w·or·d	1	Lesson 82
work	w·or·k	1	Lesson 82
words	w·or·d·s	1	Lesson 82
works	w·or·k·s	1	Lesson 82
world	w·or·l·d	1	Lesson 82
worse	w·or·s·e	1	Lesson 82
worst	w·or·s·t	1	Lesson 82
worth	w·or·th	1	Lesson 82
worked	w·or·k·ed	1	Lesson 82
arise	ar·i_e·s	2	Lesson 111
error	e·rr·or	2	Lesson 111
major	m·a·j·or	2	Lesson 111
minor	m·i·n·or	2	Lesson 111
prior	p·r·i·or	2	Lesson 111
sugar	s·u·g·ar	2	Not in the sequence
worry	w·orr·y	2	Lesson 111
around	ar·ou·n·d	2	Lesson 111
arrive	arr·i_e·v	2	Lesson 111
author	au·th·or	2	Lesson 111
dollar	d·o·ll·ar	2	Lesson 111
effort	e·ff·or·t	2	Lesson 111
errors	e·rr·or·s	2	Lesson 111
factor	f·a·c·t·or	2	Lesson 111
senior	s·e·n·i·or	2	Not in the sequence
vector	v·e·c·t·or	2	Lesson 111
worded	w·or·d·ed	2	Lesson 82
worker	w·or·k·er	2	Lesson 82
worthy	w·or·th·y	2	Lesson 82
arrange	arr·a·n·g·e	2	Lesson 111
arrived	arr·i_e·v·d	2	Lesson 111
arrives	arr·i_e·v·s	2	Lesson 111
authors	au·th·or·s	2	Lesson 111
awkward	aw·k·w·ar·d	2	Lesson 111
correct	c·orr·e·c·t	2	Lesson 111
corrupt	c·orr·u·p·t	2	Lesson 111
efforts	e·ff·or·t·s	2	Lesson 111
factors	f·a·c·t·or·s	2	Lesson 111
network	n·e·t·w·or·k	2	Lesson 82
upwards	u·p·w·ar·d·s	2	Lesson 111
wording	w·or·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 82

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 77	346
Lesson 78	459
Lesson 80	1,298
Lesson 81	307
Lesson 111	358
Lesson 112	177
Lesson 113	178
Lesson 119	133
Not in the sequence	271

How do you teach r-controlled vowel words?

Teach each r-controlled spelling as a new unit with its own card, not as a vowel plus r. "When r comes after the vowel, they team up and make a new sound. Ar says /ar/." Start with ar, then or and ore, then er, ir and ur together. Reading comes fast. Spelling /er/ is the long job, because three spellings share one sound.

What mistake do students make with r-controlled vowel words?

Students read the vowel as short and then add /r/ (/kăr/ for car is close, but /fĕrn/ is common for fern). Underline the vowel and r together. In spelling, the er, ir and ur choice is the main error. Keep a word wall with three columns and add to it as the student meets new words.

Where do r-controlled vowel words come in the sequence?

R-controlled vowels usually come after silent e and the ending patterns, before vowel teams. Air, are, ear and eer come later. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 77.

Exceptions worth knowing

After w, or says /er/ (word, work) and ar says /or/ (warm, war). In unstressed syllables, or and ar often say /er/ (doctor, dollar). Our list groups those words separately.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 77 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

The bird sat on the fern by the barn.
Her horse is in the dark park.
Turn left at the corner.

Questions people ask

What are 5 r-controlled vowel words?

Or, air, arm, art, bar. Those are the five most common of the 4,514 words with an r-controlled vowel in our checked list.

What is bossy r?

A teaching name for an r-controlled vowel: the r is said to boss the vowel into a new sound. Many teachers now just say the vowel and r make a team.

Which r-controlled spellings sound the same?

Er, ir and ur all say /er/ (her, bird, hurt). Or after w says /er/ too (word). That is why spelling them takes practice.

When can a student read r-controlled vowel words?

R-controlled vowel words are taught at Lesson 77 in the lesson sequence we use. 359 of the 4,514 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.