The "a" sound — /æ/
As in ant. Tap play to hear the sound, see the mouth shape, and hear 15 example words.
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Grapheme — the letters
a
What a child sees written down and writes by hand.
Phoneme — the sound
/æ/
What a child hears and says out loud — written in IPA, the standard notation for sounds (not letter names).
Mouth shape
Open mouth wide, short sound
Gesture
Wiggle fingers up your arm like ants and say a-a-a
Words to read now
Every letter in these has been taught by this point in the teaching order, so your child can sound them out.
None yet — at this point too few sounds are known to build a real word. Use the listening words below.
Words to listen for the sound
You say these, your child listens for /æ/. They use letters or spellings not taught yet, so they’re not for reading.
- ant
- at
- and
- add
- app
- cap
- bag
- man
- cat
- hat
- jam
- ram
- wag
- lap
- sad
Teach the “a” sound: free printables
Two free PDFs made for this sound. Print them, or use the full lesson online with audio and games.
“a” practice sheetFor your child: trace, find the sound in pictures, read and match. Name & date on top. Download PDF
“a” lesson planFor you: a 10-minute lesson with what to say, the answer key and common mix-ups. Download PDFCompare: /æ/ vs /eɪ/
Different mouth shapes — "a" is wide and short; "ai" starts like "e" and slides into "ee".
Learn the “ai” sound →How to teach the “a” sound
- Hear it first. Tap Play three times. Have your child watch your mouth while you copy the sound — no letter name yet, just the pure phoneme /æ/.
- Do the gesture. Wiggle fingers up your arm like ants and say a-a-a— kids remember sounds 2× faster when there’s a physical action attached.
- Find it in words. Say a few example words aloud slowly, stretching the /æ/ sound: “a–n–t”.
- Spot it around the house. “Can you find something that starts with /æ/?” Aim for 3 wins in a row before stopping.
Related sounds in this unit
Turn this into a dated schedule
Pick a start date and a pace, and get all 44 sounds laid out as dated sessions — free to preview, downloadable as a calendar.
Teach phonics online — one short lesson a day
Sign in free and follow a plan that remembers where you are. Right here in your browser, on phone, tablet or computer — nothing to download.
- 92 step-by-step lessons, SATPIN first
- Big flashcards to show your child
- Games, checkpoints and progress for every sound
For little ones (2–6) there’s also our sound-play game on iPhone & iPad and Android.