Spelling list: ur words

The ur spelling pattern is used to represent the /er/ sound in English, like in fur and nurse.

You can click on the speaker icon next to the ur words in this list to hear how the /er/ sound is pronounced. Use the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check spelling activity to learn how to say these ur words yourself.

In these words, the ur combination comes after a consonant and falls in the middle or at end of a word.

There are three other ways of spelling the /er/ sound so make sure you use the spelling activities to familiarise yourself with these examples of ur words. Soon you will develop a memory for which spelling to use for different words that contain the /er/ sound.

fur	The bear has thick fur.
blur	His vision began to blur.
slur	An insult is a slur.
nurse	Jane is training to be a nurse.
purse	A thief seized my mother's purse.
purple	Mix red and blue to get purple.
burst	Don't burst that balloon.
burn	Our new stove can burn wood or coal.
curl	The dogs curl up on the couch. *
hurl	I hurl the ball to my teammate.
surf	I love to surf.
turf	We cut a piece of turf from the ground.
church	It was very quiet in the church.
curve	The racing car sped around the curve of the track.
return	It's time for us to return home.
murder	We watched a murder mystery on TV.
turnip	The man grew a huge turnip. *
Thursday	I went to the shop on Thursday. *
Saturday	Jack goes swimming every Saturday.