8th Grade spelling
8th Grade PH Words
Words where ph spells the f sound: physical, philosophy, atmosphere, alphabet, dolphin. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Words where ph spells the /f/ sound, almost always a sign the word came from Greek.
The letters ph spell the /f/ sound in a large group of English words, nearly all of which came from Greek. The Greek letter phi was written as ph by the Romans, and the spelling carried into English. That makes ph a handy clue: if a word is about science, thinking or the physical world and has an f sound, it probably has a ph. Common examples are physics, philosophy and pharmacy.
The list contains thirty words, including physical, philosophy, atmosphere, physics, trophy, emphasis, geographic, triumph, pharmaceutical, pharmacy, phantom, phenomenon, metaphor, alphabet, hemisphere and dolphin. Eighth grade work on word origins is a good place to treat ph as a marker of Greek roots, which also show up in graph, phon and tele from fifth grade. A short list of them explains a great deal of the vocabulary students will see in high school science.
30 entries. Our solver needed 1.1 wrong guesses on average: 19 easy, 11 medium and 0 hard. The toughest is alphabet (4 misses), the quickest atmosphere (0).
- physical Medium · 2
- philosophy Medium · 2
- atmosphere Easy · 0
- physics Medium · 2
- physically Easy · 1
- emphasis Easy · 1
- trophy Medium · 3
- phenomenon Easy · 0
- sophisticated Easy · 0
- geographic Easy · 0
- triumph Medium · 3
- philosophical Easy · 0
- demographic Easy · 0
- pharmaceutical Easy · 0
- pharmacy Medium · 3
- geographical Easy · 1
- atmospheric Easy · 0
- bibliography Easy · 0
- phantom Medium · 3
- phenomenal Easy · 0
- photographic Easy · 0
- phenomena Easy · 1
- metaphor Easy · 1
- philosopher Easy · 0
- prophecy Medium · 3
- alphabet Medium · 4
- hemisphere Easy · 0
- sophomore Medium · 2
- dolphin Medium · 2
- peripheral Easy · 0
Words worth a closer look
- physicalPhys is the Greek root for nature. The ph is at the very beginning.
- philosophyPhilo means love and sophy means wisdom, so love of wisdom. Two ph spellings in one word, one at the start and one in the middle.
- alphabetNamed for the first two Greek letters, alpha and beta. The ph is in the middle.
- dolphinA Greek word. Students often write dolfin.
- triumphPh at the end of the word: triumphant keeps it.
Teaching it
Pair the spelling with the root: phys means nature, soph means wisdom, graph means write, sphere means ball, phon means sound. Students then see ph in physical, philosophy, geographic, hemisphere and symphony as part of the root. The usual spelling mistake is to replace ph with f (filosofy, fysical). Remember too that ph can sit in the middle or at the end, as in trophy and triumph, as well as at the start.
For hangman, treat f as a trap: if players guess f in a Greek-looking word, they will lose a turn. Ask them to say p and h as a pair. Print the worksheet and have students circle the ph in each word and write the Greek root it belongs to.
Print a 8th Grade PH 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
- 8th Grade Words Ending in IbleWords ending in ible: visible, possible, edible, tangible, irresistible, audible. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Words Ending in Cious and TiousSort words ending in cious and tious: gracious, spacious, cautious, nutritious, infectious. Play hangman or print a worksheet with answers.
- 8th Grade Words Ending in IentWords ending in ient: patient, ancient, client, ingredient, convenient, sufficient. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Ceed, Cede and Sede WordsSpell the /seed/ ending: exceed, proceed, succeed, precede, concede, supersede. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Advanced Silent Letter WordsSilent letters in psychology, rhythm, column, design and foreign. Sort ps, rh, mn and gn words, then play hangman or print a worksheet.
- 8th Grade Words With Two Sets of Double LettersWords with two sets of double letters: committee, accommodate, embarrass, necessary, occasionally. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.