Spelling list: ur - longer words

Many words in English use the letters ur to spell the sound /er/. This sound is common in words like burden, occur, and turtle. In these words, the ur combination is pronounced like the er in her.

Here are two examples:

burden – The secret was a burden on Tim's mind.
occur – Dreams occur when you are asleep.

These words can be tricky because of the unusual spelling, so reviewing them will help you become more confident.

Try a Look, Cover, Say, Write, Check activity to test your spelling!

burden	The secret was a burden on Tim's mind.
incur	Downloading lots of data will incur high charges.
occur	Dreams occur when you are asleep.
recur	Did the error recur every time you logged on?
urban	Over the years, urban areas have expanded.
turban	He wears a turban.
hurdle	She cleared every hurdle in great style.
gurgle	The baby's gurgle delighted her dad.
turtle	Turtle eggs are laid in a hole in the sand.
disturb	Please don't disturb me.
perturb	Your bad manners perturb me.
surplus	All the surplus stock was given to charity.
survive	It is difficult to survive in the desert. *