Phonics word list
Y as long e
In short
Y says long e, /ē/, when it ends a word of two syllables or more, as in happy, baby and candy. It is the most common way to spell /ē/ at the end of a longer word. Our checked list has 1,244 words where y says /ē/.
At a glance
- Words in our list
- 1,244
- By syllables
- one syllable: 0 · two syllables: 484 · three or more syllables: 760
- Taught in
- Lesson 74 in the sequence
One spelling, more than one sound
Most lists mix these up. We count each sound separately, so a student practicing one sound only sees words that make it.
| Sound | Example | Words | List |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ē/ | any | 1,244 | This page |
| /ī/ | by | 179 | See the list |
| /ĭ/ | symbol | 1,244 | This page |
| /y/ | yes | 1,244 | This page |
Y words that say /ē/, 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.
Two syllables
| Word | Spelling units | Syllables | Readable after |
|---|---|---|---|
| any | a·n·y | 2 | Lesson 32 (heart word) |
| army | ar·m·y | 2 | Lesson 77 |
| body | b·o·d·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| bury | b·u·r·y | 2 | Not in the sequence |
| busy | b·u·s·y | 2 | Not in the sequence |
| city | c·i·t·y | 2 | Lesson 117 |
| copy | c·o·p·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| duty | d·u·t·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| easy | ea·s·y | 2 | Lesson 85 |
| lady | l·a·d·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| lazy | l·a·z·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| many | m·a·n·y | 2 | Lesson 32 (heart word) |
| only | o·n·l·y | 2 | Lesson 39b (heart word) |
| ugly | u·g·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| vary | v·a·r·y | 2 | Not in the sequence |
| very | v·e·r·y | 2 | Lesson 39b (heart word) |
| angry | a·n·g·r·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| badly | b·a·d·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| carry | c·a·rr·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| crazy | c·r·a·z·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| daily | d·ai·l·y | 2 | Lesson 84 |
| dirty | d·ir·t·y | 2 | Lesson 81 |
| early | ear·l·y | 2 | Lesson 113 |
| empty | e·m·p·t·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| entry | e·n·t·r·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| fancy | f·a·n·c·y | 2 | Lesson 117 |
| fully | f·u·ll·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| funny | f·u·nn·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| handy | h·a·n·d·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| happy | h·a·pp·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| heavy | h·ea·v·y | 2 | Lesson 94 |
| hurry | h·urr·y | 2 | Lesson 81 |
| lucky | l·u·ck·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| marry | m·a·rr·y | 2 | Not in the sequence |
| messy | m·e·ss·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| nasty | n·a·s·t·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| noisy | n·oi·s·y | 2 | Lesson 95 |
| party | p·ar·t·y | 2 | Lesson 77 |
| ready | r·ea·d·y | 2 | Lesson 94 |
| sadly | s·a·d·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| silly | s·i·ll·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| sorry | s·o·rr·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| story | s·t·or·y | 2 | Lesson 78 |
| study | s·t·u·d·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| truly | t·r·u·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| worry | w·orr·y | 2 | Lesson 111 |
| county | c·ou·n·t·y | 2 | Lesson 96 |
| deeply | d·ee·p·l·y | 2 | Lesson 85 |
| fairly | f·air·l·y | 2 | Lesson 112 |
| firmly | f·ir·m·l·y | 2 | Lesson 81 |
| freely | f·r·ee·l·y | 2 | Lesson 85 |
| hardly | h·ar·d·l·y | 2 | Lesson 77 |
| highly | h·igh·l·y | 2 | Lesson 87 |
| kindly | k·i·n·d·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| likely | l·i_e·k·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| loudly | l·ou·d·l·y | 2 | Lesson 96 |
| mainly | m·ai·n·l·y | 2 | Lesson 84 |
| merely | m·e·r·e·l·y | 2 | Not in the sequence |
| mostly | m·o·s·t·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
| namely | n·a_e·m·l·y | 2 | Lesson 74 |
Three or more syllables
| Word | Spelling units | Syllables | Readable after |
|---|---|---|---|
| enemy | e·n·e·m·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| every | e·v·er·y | 3 | Lesson 39b (heart word) |
| agency | a·g·e·n·c·y | 3 | Lesson 117 |
| anyone | a·n·y·o·n·e | 3 | Lesson 67a |
| anyway | a·n·y·w·ay | 3 | Lesson 84 |
| binary | b·i·n·ar·y | 3 | Lesson 111 |
| easily | ea·s·i·l·y | 3 | Lesson 110 |
| entity | e·n·t·i·t·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| family | f·a·m·i·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| memory | m·e·m·or·y | 3 | Lesson 111 |
| nobody | n·o·b·o·d·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| policy | p·o·l·i·c·y | 3 | Lesson 117 |
| solely | s·o·l·e·l·y | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| theory | th·e·or·y | 3 | Lesson 111 |
| already | a·l·r·ea·d·y | 3 | Lesson 94 |
| battery | b·a·tt·er·y | 3 | Lesson 80 |
| burying | b·u·r·y·i·ng | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| century | c·e·n·t·ur·y | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| company | c·o·m·p·a·n·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| copying | c·o·p·y·i·ng | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| equally | e·qu·a·ll·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| exactly | e·x·a·c·t·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| finally | f·i·n·a·ll·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| happily | h·a·pp·i·l·y | 3 | Lesson 110 |
| heavily | h·ea·v·i·l·y | 3 | Lesson 110 |
| history | h·i·s·t·or·y | 3 | Lesson 111 |
| legally | l·e·g·a·ll·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| library | l·i·b·r·a·r·y | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| primary | p·r·i·m·a·r·y | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| quality | qu·a·l·i·t·y | 3 | Lesson 94 |
| quietly | qu·i·e·t·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| rapidly | r·a·p·i·d·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| readily | r·ea·d·i·l·y | 3 | Lesson 110 |
| summary | s·u·mm·ar·y | 3 | Lesson 111 |
| totally | t·o·t·a·ll·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| unhappy | u·n·h·a·pp·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| utterly | u·tt·er·l·y | 3 | Lesson 80 |
| varying | v·a·r·y·i·ng | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| anyplace | a·n·y·p·l·a_e·c | 3 | Lesson 67a |
| anything | a·n·y·th·i·ng | 3 | Lesson 67a |
| anywhere | a·n·y·wh·e·r·e | 3 | Lesson 67a |
| assembly | a·ss·e·m·b·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| carrying | c·a·rr·y·i·ng | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| commonly | c·o·mm·o·n·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| contrary | c·o·n·t·r·a·r·y | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| directly | d·ir·e·c·t·l·y | 3 | Lesson 81 |
| everyone | e·v·e·r·y·o·n·e | 3 | Not in the sequence |
| industry | i·n·d·u·s·t·r·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| normally | n·or·m·a·ll·y | 3 | Lesson 78 |
| possibly | p·o·ss·i·b·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| probably | p·r·o·b·a·b·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| properly | p·r·o·p·er·l·y | 3 | Lesson 80 |
| property | p·r·o·p·er·t·y | 3 | Lesson 80 |
| publicly | p·u·b·l·i·c·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| quantity | qu·a·n·t·i·t·y | 3 | Lesson 94 |
| randomly | r·a·n·d·o·m·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| recently | r·e·c·e·n·t·l·y | 3 | Lesson 117 |
| remotely | r·e·m·o_e·t·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| secondly | s·e·c·o·n·d·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
| sensibly | s·e·n·s·i·b·l·y | 3 | Lesson 74 |
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.
| Readable after | Words |
|---|---|
| Lesson 74 | 511 |
| Lesson 78 | 32 |
| Lesson 80 | 70 |
| Lesson 85 | 45 |
| Lesson 94 | 26 |
| Lesson 111 | 38 |
| Lesson 117 | 86 |
| Lesson 119 | 39 |
| Not in the sequence | 184 |
How do you teach y words that say /ē/?
Teach this right after y as /ī/. "Count the syllables. More than one? Y at the end says /ē/." Read happy, funny, candy, sunny, puppy. Many are base word plus suffix -y (sunny, rainy), which links to word-part lessons later. The doubling in funny and sunny is worth pointing out.
What mistake do students make with y words that say /ē/?
Students read y as /ī/ in longer words (hap-pie). The syllable count fixes it. In spelling, they write ee or ey (happee). Tell them that /ē/ at the end of a longer word is almost always y.
Where do y words that say /ē/ come in the sequence?
Y as /ē/ is usually taught right after y as /ī/, with two-syllable words already in place. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 74.
Exceptions worth knowing
Key, money and monkey use ey. Coffee and committee use ee. When a suffix is added, y often changes to i (happier, babies), which has its own spelling rule.
Decodable sentences
Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 74 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.
- The puppy is happy.
- The candy is in my hand.
- The baby is fussy and messy.
Questions people ask
What are 5 y words that say /ē/?
Why does y say e in happy but i in my?
What are some words where y sounds like e?
When can a student read y words that say /ē/?
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.