Number Words one, two, once

Learn the surprising spellings of one, two, and once.

Number words look strange! 'One' starts with the /w/ sound, but there is no w in it. We say 'wun'. The whole word is a heart word. 'Once' means one time, and it starts the same way: 'wunce'.

That's why you will find 'once' at the start of so many stories: 'Once there was a fox. ' 'Two' has a silent w. We say 'too'. The w is there because 'two' is related to words like 'twin' and 'twice', where you do hear the w.

Read: 'Once, one bird had two eggs. '

• 1'one' sounds like 'wun'.
• 2'once' means one time.
• 3'two' has a silent w.