Unit 25: Word endings: -er, -ar, -or, -our, -re, -a and -ery,
Page 13 of 14
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One final way of spelling the schwa sound on the end of the word is to use the letter a. |
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| a as in pizza | a as in panda |
Most words ending in a are foreign in origin but have now become
part of the English language. There are also many proper nouns - names
of people or places.
It may be useful to learn them in sets of words which have something in common:
for example:
| Animals | Food | Musical terms |
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| zebra gorilla koala llama tarantula anaconda cobra hyena puma chihuahua tuna also: cheetah |
banana pasta samosa semolina soda soya sultana vanilla |
ballerina cantata harmonica opera orchestra samba sonata tuba viola |
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| Medical terms | People's names | Places |
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asthma |
Anna Barbara Donna Emma Gemma Joanna Laura Martha Sara (Sarah) Tara Vera Gloria Maria Victoria |
America Angola Argentina Botswana China Ghana Jamaica Kenya Libya Nicaragua Sri Lanka Uganda Arabia Australia Austria Algeria Colombia Indonesia Malaysia Russia Zambia |
| Note: There are many more examples of proper nouns ending in a, both names of people and places. Start your own collection of those you need to know. |
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The next list has some more useful words ending in a :
| area arena aroma camera cinema comma data dilemma diploma |
drama encyclopedia (sometimes spelled encyclopaedia) era extra formula gala larva* lava* panorama |
peninsula replica sauna sofa stamina umbrella villa visa yoga |
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You have not completed Learn the Words activities for each word list on this page.
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