PhonicsYears 1–2Phase 5 – Alternative Spellings & Pronunciations

Alternative spellings for /ai/

Recognise alternative spellings for the /ai/ phoneme: ay (play, day), a-e (cake, make), a (apron, acorn), ey (grey, they), ei (vein, reindeer)

What you'll learn

  1. 1

    The sound /ai/ can be spelled in different ways — like 'ai' in 'rain', 'ay' in 'play', and 'a-e' in 'cake'.

  2. 2

    Which word has the /ai/ sound? 🎧

  3. 3

    Tap the letters to build the word 'play' — it uses 'ay' for the /ai/ sound.

  4. 4

    Let's spell 'cake' together — it has the 'a-e' spelling for /ai/.

  5. 5

    Now build the word 'rain' — it uses 'ai' for the /ai/ sound.

  6. 6

    Which spelling makes the /ai/ sound in 'play'? 🎮

  7. 7

    Which word has the 'a-e' spelling for /ai/? 🎂

Practise Alternative spellings for /ai/ with Whizlo

Free AI-tutored lessons, unlimited practice questions, and progress tracking for ages 5–7. Aligned to the UK National Curriculum.