Bossy r: er, ir, ur

Here is a surprise: er, ir, and ur all say the same sound, /er/, as in 'her'. You hear er in 'her', 'fern', and 'never'. You hear ir in 'bird', 'girl', and 'shirt'. You hear ur in 'fur', 'turn', and 'nurse'.

Reading them is easy, because they sound alike. Spelling them is harder, because you have to remember which one a word uses. Er is the most common, especially at the end of words like 'sister' and 'winter'. Read: 'The girl saw a bird with brown fur.

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• 1er, ir, and ur all say /er/.
• 2er is most common, often at the end.
• 3Learn which spelling each word uses.