Test Your Phonemic Awareness And Phonics Knowledge

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Quizzes Created: 1 | Total Attempts: 18,593

Questions: 15 | Attempts: 18,593 | Updated: Mar 18, 2025

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Questions and Answers

1.

When you were in your teacher education classes, were you taught about the phonemic properties of language (i.e., phonemic awareness)?
2.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "run?"
- A.
  
  2
- B.
  
  3
- C.
  
  4
- D.
  
  5
Correct Answer
B. 3

Explanation
/r/ /u/ /n/

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2
3.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "laughed?"
- A.
  
  3
- B.
  
  4
- C.
  
  5
- D.
  
  6
Correct Answer
B. 4

Explanation
/l/ /a/ /f/ /t/

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3
4.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "grass?"
- A.
  
  3
- B.
  
  4
- C.
  
  5
- D.
  
  6
Correct Answer
B. 4

Explanation
/g/ /r/ /a/ /s/

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10
5.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "Christmas?"
- A.
  
  9
- B.
  
  8
- C.
  
  7
- D.
  
  6
Correct Answer
C. 7

Explanation
/k/ /r/ /i/ /s/ /m/ /uh/ /s/ (The spelling "st" is just /s/ in "Christmas.")

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5
6.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "through?"
- A.
  
  2
- B.
  
  3
- C.
  
  4
- D.
  
  5
Correct Answer
B. 3

Explanation
/th/ /r/ /oo/ (The spelling "ough" represents the /oo/ sound in this word. But it can represent a lot of other spellings, too, such as the /oa/ in "though.")

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4
7.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "psychology?"
- A.
  
  8
- B.
  
  9
- C.
  
  10
- D.
  
  11
Correct Answer
A. 8

Explanation
/s/ /ie/ /k/ /o/ /l/ /oa/ /j/ /ee/

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4
8.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "scratch?"
- A.
  
  3
- B.
  
  4
- C.
  
  5
- D.
  
  6
Correct Answer
C. 5

Explanation
/s/ /k/ /r/ /a/ /ch/ (The "tch" is another spelling for the /ch/ sound.)

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4
9.

How many sounds (i.e., phonemes) in the word, "exit?"
- A.
  
  3
- B.
  
  4
- C.
  
  5
- D.
  
  6
Correct Answer
C. 5

Explanation
/e/ /k/ /s/ /i/ /t/ (The "x" actually represents 2 sounds--/k/ and /s/. Tricky! Bonus: think about how many sounds are represented by "qu.")

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5
10.

Which of the following words contains a schwa sound?
- A.
  
  Baited
- B.
  
  Through
- C.
  
  Found
- D.
  
  Happen
Correct Answer
D. Happen

Explanation
The word, "happen," looks like /hap en/, but we say /hap un/. The "e" in "happen" is the schwa sound. The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound. It occurs in multi-syllable words on the un-accented chunk or syllable. We put our stress on one syllable (i.e, "hap") then we are sloppy with our pronunciation and say /uhn/ in the next syllable.

Notice where you place the stress in the following words and notice the schwa sound in the un-stressed syllable:

about
elephant
impolite
around

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3
11.

Which of the following words is irregularly spelled?
- A.
  
  The
- B.
  
  Crunch
- C.
  
  Energy
- D.
  
  Fact
Correct Answer
A. The

Explanation
The word "the" is usually spoken as /thuh/, which is an unexpected vowel sound at the end of word or syllable.

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2
12.

Which of the following words is irregularly spelled?
- A.
  
  Drop
- B.
  
  Dive
- C.
  
  Dog
- D.
  
  Done
Correct Answer
D. Done

Explanation
The "o_e" spelling in "done" would usually be the sound /oa/, so the /uh/ sound in this word does not follow the typical pattern in our language for that spelling of "o_e."

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2
13.

Which of the following words is irregularly spelled?
- A.
  
  One
- B.
  
  Three
- C.
  
  Five
- D.
  
  Seven
Correct Answer
A. One

Explanation
The word "one" sounds like this: /wun/, but the "o" is almost never the /w/ sound.

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8
14.

Which of the following words is irregularly spelled?
- A.
  
  Can
- B.
  
  What
- C.
  
  How
- D.
  
  Flutter
Correct Answer
B. What

Explanation
The "a" in "what" would be expected to sound like the "a" in "cat" but it's the /uh/ sound. Not a typical spelling pattern.

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8
15.

Which of the following words is irregularly spelled? (Just 1 more after this!)
- A.
  
  Sneak
- B.
  
  Take
- C.
  
  Give
- D.
  
  Grab
Correct Answer
C. Give

Explanation
The "i_e" pattern is usually the /ie/ sound as in "tie," but in "give," it is the short "i" sound as in "sip." [The "ve" is really the big player in the word, "give." Since English words don't end in "v" the "e" is added to make all things right with the world. Same thing occurs with "have."]

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5