2nd Grade spelling
2nd Grade ER, IR and UR Words
Spelling words where er, ir and ur all make the same sound, like her, girl, hurt and nurse. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Three spellings, one sound: er, ir and ur all make the /er/ sound. The groups show which spelling each word uses.
Three different spellings make the same sound: the r-controlled vowel in her, girl and hurt. There is no sound-based rule for choosing among them, so er, ir and ur are some of the hardest patterns for second graders. The list is split into three groups so that students can see each spelling on its own.
In the er group you will find her, term, serve, nerve, herd and verb. The ir group has first, girl, bird, dirt, skirt and stir. Under ur are turn, hurt, burn, nurse and purse. All were checked by pronunciation, so a word like were, which has an er spelling and the same sound, is included, while words with a different vowel sound are not. In many accents these vowels sound identical, so students cannot rely on their ears alone and have to study the spelling.
36 entries. Our solver needed 4.8 wrong guesses on average: 3 easy, 15 medium and 18 hard. The toughest is fur (12 misses), the quickest nerve (0).
er
- were Medium · 3
- her Medium · 4
- term Hard · 5
- serve Easy · 1
- nerve Easy · 0
- verse Easy · 1
- clerk Medium · 4
- stern Medium · 2
- herd Hard · 5
- merge Medium · 3
- verb Hard · 7
- verge Medium · 3
ir
- first Medium · 3
- girl Hard · 5
- sir Hard · 5
- firm Hard · 9
- bird Hard · 8
- dirt Hard · 6
- skirt Medium · 4
- stir Medium · 3
- thirst Medium · 3
- birch Hard · 7
- fir Hard · 11
- squirt Medium · 3
ur
- turn Hard · 5
- hurt Hard · 7
- burn Hard · 6
- nurse Medium · 3
- burst Hard · 6
- curve Medium · 4
- urge Medium · 3
- curse Medium · 4
- burnt Hard · 7
- fur Hard · 12
- purse Hard · 5
- surf Hard · 6
Words worth a closer look
- wereSame sound as her, but the spelling has a silent e. It is an irregular word even though it sits in the er group.
- clerkIn US English the er sounds like her. In British English the word is said with the ar sound.
- birchA tree, and the ir is followed by the ch digraph. Players usually need several guesses to find the b.
- surfOne of the few ur words that ends in f. Compare with turf.
Teaching it
Teach this pattern through the group, not the rule. Have students read down the er column, then the ir column, then the ur column, then close their eyes and spell three from each. The typical mistake is using the wrong team, such as writing gerl for girl or bern for burn, which a spell checker will flag but a reader will often still understand.
Memory aids help. Girl and bird both have ir, and so does first; fur and turn have ur. Make a poster with a short rhyme for each and add words as students find them in their reading. In hangman, tell players which of the three spellings the word uses after the first wrong guess, which keeps the game moving.
Print a 2nd Grade ER, IR and UR Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 2nd Grade AI WordsSpelling words with the ai vowel team for long a, like rain, mail and paint. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade AY WordsSpelling words ending in ay, such as day, play, away and birthday. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EE WordsSpelling words with ee for the long e sound, including see, need, week and queen. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EA WordsSpelling words where ea makes the long e sound, like team, meat, steam and beach. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade OA WordsSpelling words with oa for the long o sound, such as boat, coat, road and soap. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade IGH WordsSpelling words with igh for the long i sound, like night, light, high and bright. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.