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Unit 25: Spelling the schwa ending: er ar or our re a
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Unit 25: Word endings: -er, -ar, -or, -our, -re, -a and -ery,

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Unit 25 - Spelling the schwa ending: er, ar, or, our, re, a

Think back - help with spelling rules In Unit 24, we learned about the schwa sound.

These letter patterns can be used to spell clear vowel sounds:

Spelling English words with schwa ending Spelling English words with schwa ending Spelling English words with schwa ending
er as in person ar as in shark or as in fork

They can also be used to spell the schwa sound at the end of a word:

Spelling English words with schwa ending Spelling English words with schwa ending Spelling English words with schwa ending
er as in computer or as in monitor ar as in calendar

Teaching point There is no one way to be certain about which spelling to use for the schwa sound, but here are some tips:

1. A rule:
If the word is a comparative (an adjective meaning 'more'), always use -er :

big - bigger fast - faster sweet - sweeter noisy - noisier

2. A guide:
The -or ending often follows ct, it, at, rr, or ess :

actor visitor dictator terror successor

3. A guide:
The -ar ending often follows l:

collar regular particular similar

4. A guide:
er is most common way of spelling schwa, then -or, then -ar.

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Common words ending with er ar and or

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One of the students has put in a huge amount of effort in completing Spellzone at least 3 times a week since his arrival with us in January. Looking at his scores after the latest GL testing, his standardised score has risen from 99 to 131. This is a truly phenomenal result. I just wanted to share the best result I have ever seen.

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