EAR and its three sounds

/ɪər/ in hear, /eər/ in bear, /ɜːr/ in earth. Three sounds, three common words, no clue in the spelling.

R-controlled vowels

ear R_EAR_01

Useful pattern · Low reliability · Common · Advanced · Reading

• /ɪər/ as in hear: hear, near, year
• /eər/ as in bear: bear, pear, wear
• /ɜːr/ as in earth: earth, learn, early
• /ɑːr/ as in heart: heart, hearth

Where Wiggler teaches it: Skill 8: R-Controlled Vowels

Child explanation

Ear has three sounds. Hear, bear and earth all have the same three letters and all sound different. Try hear first.

The rule

Try /ɪər/ first — it is the largest group. Bear, pear, wear, tear and swear are the /eər/ set; earth, learn, early, earn, heard and search are the /ɜːr/ set. Heart is on its own.

What is really going on

Three merged sources under one spelling, with no orthographic conditioning. Each group is small enough to name as a word list, which is the honest treatment: this is not a grapheme with a rule and exceptions, it is three word families that happen to share a spelling.

Position in the word

• Middle of a word — Any of the three values. For example: hear, bear, earth.

Examples

Easy examples

hear, near, year, bear, earth

More examples

dear, fear, clear, appear, beard, pear, wear, tear, swear, learn, early, earn, heard, search, pearl

Advanced examples

heart, hearth, rehearse

Exceptions

• tear, twice: tear. The same spelling is two words: /tɪər/ from an eye and /teər/ to rip.
• heart: heart, hearth. The only /ɑːr/ in the set.

Contrast pairs

• hear versus bear — Two of the three sounds.
• bear versus earth — The other two.
• hear versus heart — One letter apart, entirely different vowels.

Do not teach it like this

"Ear says /ɪər/ as in hear."

Earth, learn, early, bear and heart are all common words, several of them among the first three hundred.

"Ear has three sounds. Try hear first. If it is not a word you know, try bear, then earth."

Teacher note

This is a high-variability grapheme and should be labelled as one. Teach the three groups as three short word lists rather than as a rule with exceptions, and rehearse the flexing routine on mixed sentences. It is also a good place to point out that even adults occasionally have to see a word in context before knowing which tear is meant.

Related rules

• AIR, ARE and EAR as /eər/ — air / are / ear / ere — The vowel of chair and share. Four spellings, one sound, and the same reading-easy, spelling-hard shape as er/ir/ur.
• ER, IR and UR — er / ir / ur — Three spellings, one sound. For reading this is easy; for spelling it is the hardest thing in English, and the difference should be said out loud.
• EA and its three sounds — ea — /iː/ in beach, /e/ in bread, /eɪ/ in great. The first genuinely variable vowel team most children meet.
• OUGH — -ough — At least seven pronunciations, and no rule at all. The clearest case in English where remembering the word beats applying a pattern.
• Vowel flexing — try one sound, then the other — The strategy that makes every variable grapheme workable: try the commonest sound, check whether it is a word you know, and try the next.

• Previous in R-controlled vowels: AIR, ARE and EAR as /eər/ — air / are / ear / ere — The vowel of chair and share. Four spellings, one sound, and the same reading-easy, spelling-hard shape as er/ir/ur.
• Next in R-controlled vowels: W changes the vowel after it — wa / war / wor — After w, a is usually /ɒ/, ar is /ɔːr/ and or is /ɜːr/. One cause, three families, and a large number of words that otherwise look irregular.
• All reading rules

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