11-plus English | Spelling phonemes - distinguishing speech sound

English Quiz - Spelling: Phonemes (Questions)

A phoneme is a distinguishing speech sound. The English language has 44 phonemes. For example, 'dog' has three phonemes: 'd', 'o' and 'g'. Here are three more phonemes: 'ch', 'sh' and 'oo'.

If you are starting to really enjoy the English language, you will find phonemes ~ and graphemes ~ a source of fascination. For instance, did you know that there are approximately 24 phonemes that are consonants and a whopping 20 phonemes that are vowels. With only 5 vowels in the English alphabet, that's quite something! If you fancy becoming a linguistic (studying languages) when you leave school, phonemes will come in very useful.

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In which one of the following words is the 'c' sound heard in 'cat' repeated?

[ ]	Celsius
[ ]	Ceiling
[ ]	Cesspit
[ ]	Crank

In which one of the following words is the 't' sound heard in 'time' repeated?

[ ]	Thrash
[ ]	Train
[ ]	Thistle
[ ]	Whistle

In which one of the following words is the 'ea' sound heard in 'bear' repeated?

[ ]	Bare
[ ]	Bar
[ ]	Bat
[ ]	Bacon

In which one of the following words is the 's' sound heard in 'leisure' repeated?

[ ]	Steal
[ ]	Measure
[ ]	Cross
[ ]	Wastage

In which one of the following words is the 'y' sound heard in 'sky' repeated?

[ ]	Yellow
[ ]	Yell
[ ]	I
[ ]	Very

In which one of the following words is the 'ch' sound heard in 'chop' repeated?

[ ]	Ache
[ ]	Cheese
[ ]	Acne
[ ]	Echidna

In which one of the following words is the 'o' sound heard in 'go' repeated?

[ ]	Owl
[ ]	Bolt
[ ]	Row
[ ]	Oyster

In which one of the following words is the 'ee' sound heard in 'beer' repeated?

[ ]	Tire
[ ]	Pier
[ ]	Wear
[ ]	Their

In which one of the following words is the 'ea' sound heard in 'meat' repeated?

[ ]	Their
[ ]	Whale
[ ]	Heat
[ ]	Sale

10.

In which one of the following words is the 'f' sound heard in 'fur' repeated?

[ ]	Through
[ ]	Although
[ ]	Tough
[ ]	Ought

English Quiz - Spelling: Phonemes (Answers)

In which one of the following words is the 'c' sound heard in 'cat' repeated?

[ ]	Celsius
[ ]	Ceiling
[ ]	Cesspit
[x]	Crank

'Crank' repeats the 'k' sound of the phoneme 'c'

In which one of the following words is the 't' sound heard in 'time' repeated?

[ ]	Thrash
[x]	Train
[ ]	Thistle
[ ]	Whistle

'Train' repeats the 't' sound of the phoneme 't'. 'Whistle' and 'thistle' take a silent 't': the 't' is not pronounced

In which one of the following words is the 'ea' sound heard in 'bear' repeated?

[x]	Bare
[ ]	Bar
[ ]	Bat
[ ]	Bacon

'Bare' repeats the sound of the phoneme 'ea'

In which one of the following words is the 's' sound heard in 'leisure' repeated?

[ ]	Steal
[x]	Measure
[ ]	Cross
[ ]	Wastage

'Measure' repeats the 'z' sound of the phoneme 's'

In which one of the following words is the 'y' sound heard in 'sky' repeated?

[ ]	Yellow
[ ]	Yell
[x]	I
[ ]	Very

'I' repeats the sound of the phoneme 'y'

In which one of the following words is the 'ch' sound heard in 'chop' repeated?

[ ]	Ache
[x]	Cheese
[ ]	Acne
[ ]	Echidna

'Chop' repeats the 'ch' sound of the phoneme 'ch'

In which one of the following words is the 'o' sound heard in 'go' repeated?

[ ]	Owl
[ ]	Bolt
[x]	Row
[ ]	Oyster

'Row' repeats the 'o' sound of the phoneme 'o'

In which one of the following words is the 'ee' sound heard in 'beer' repeated?

[ ]	Tire
[x]	Pier
[ ]	Wear
[ ]	Their

'Pier' repeats the 'ee' sound of the phoneme 'ee'

In which one of the following words is the 'ea' sound heard in 'meat' repeated?

[ ]	Their
[ ]	Whale
[x]	Heat
[ ]	Sale

'Heat' repeats the 'ea' sound of the phoneme 'ea'

10.

In which one of the following words is the 'f' sound heard in 'fur' repeated?

[ ]	Through
[ ]	Although
[x]	Tough
[ ]	Ought

'Tough' repeats the 'f' sound of the phoneme 'f'