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Unit 7, Part 2: Spelling the long vowel sounds

Page 5 of 16

Unit 7: Short vowels, Part 2: i, o and u

Unit Startpage 13Course Testpage 15page 16page 17page 18Course Testpage 20page 21page 22page 23Course Testpage 25page 26Course Testpage 28Unit End

Page 5 of 16

Spelling the long vowel sound /ī/: i-e, igh, y, ie

homophones - learn to spell similar sounding words Homophones from this section:

If you confuse these words the computer spellchecker will not spot your mistake -
so it is especially important to learn them.

site - place

sight - seen
New houses are being built on that site.

I saw a strange sight last night.

night - after dark

knight - Sir
Where were you last night?

Knights were noblemen serving the King.

tire -
1) grow weary
2) US: on a wheel

tyre - UK: on a wheel

1) I have begun to tire of this book.
2) US: My car has two flat tires.

UK: My car has two flat tyres.

Note: The rubber covering of a wheel is:
tyre in the UK spelling.
tire in the US spelling.

bite - with the teeth

byte - computer unit
I hope your dog doesn't bite.

One page of writing is about 1,000 bytes.

mite -
1) small - amount or child
2) insect

might -
1) past tense of 'may'
2) strength

1) She's only a little mite.
2) Dust mites can make you sneeze.


1) You might have forgotten.
2) The might of the army overcame the rebels.

tide - sea movement

tied - knotted
We fished in the rock pools at low tide.

The cowboy tied his horse to the rail.

wine - drink

whine - noise
Wine is made from red or white grapes.

The whine of the engine woke me up.

die -
1) stop living
2) one die, two dice

dye - change colour

1) Those flowers will die in a few days.
2) He threw the die and got a six.

The dye has washed out of my jeans.

hire - pay to borrow

higher - above
We are going to hire a car in London.

The higher shelf is out of my reach.

liar - one who tells lies

lyre - musical instrument
I don't trust him, he's a liar.

A lyre is like a small harp.

time - minutes, hours etc.

thyme - herb
There's no time to waste.

Add some thyme to the pasta sauce.

side - edge

sighed - past tense of 'sigh'
The lovers sat side by side.

"I'm very tired," she sighed.

mind -
1) thought
2) object to

mined - past tense of 'mine'

1) He's over 90 but his mind is still sharp.
2) I don't mind your mother coming to stay.

The land was mined for coal.

find - discover

fined - made to pay
What will I find in this box?

She was fined for speeding in the town.

eye - use to see

aye - yes
The pirate had a patch over one eye.

In Scotland they still say 'aye' for 'yes'.

I'll - I will, I shall

isle - island

aisle - in church
I'll print this page and learn the words.

The Isle of Skye is in Scotland.

The bride walked down the aisle.

by -
1. beside
2. through

buy - purchase

bye - short for good-bye

1. Come and sit by me.
2. Learn these words by writing them.

She wants to buy a new dress.

"Bye-bye," said the little girl.

Learning tip to help your spelling
Learn this sentence and remember u in buy and up:
I'm going to buy up the whole shop!
learning words with long vowel sound i

write - with a pen.

right -
1) not left
2) correct

rite - ceremony

wright - maker
Write it down so you don't forget.


1) We don't drive on the right in England.
2) How many words did you get right?

Some churches use incense in their rites.

A playwright writes plays.

quiet and quite

These two words are not strictly homophones: quite has one syllable, quiet has two.

However, they are often confused - and the computer spellchecker will not spot your mistake.
Make quite sure you are quite certain which is which:
quite -
1) Completely
2) More or less, partly

quiet - Not noisy

You are quite right.
He's quite good-looking.

Please be quiet, I'm trying to rest.

next part of the spelling course
Go to the next part of this unit:
Spelling the long vowel sound /ō/.

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