Phonics help 'ure'

[IWillOnlyEatBeans]

Hi

Part of DS1's homework is to practice the 'ure' trigraph at home. He doesn't think they have covered it yet at school.

Please could someone clarify how you pronounce it? I have a slight Geordie accent so it comes out as 'y-oo-a' whereas my DH sounds it out quite differently (more like y-u-r) - so poor DS is getting a bit confused!

I know it's fairly trivial but it's starting to bug me!

Thanks :)

'Your' rhyming with pure, cure

Thanks. I pronounce your, pure and cure totally differently so would never have got there!

So should I teach it as 'your', even though he will generally hear it spoken differently? He would say 'pyooa' rather than 'pyour' for pure...

Or am I just over thinking it??

It's a tricky one! I'm pretty sure I posted about it once. It's pronounced quite differently in different accents and in different words. The general rule is to teach it in your child's accent as far as possible. You can also use it as a talking point- show him that you say it a little differently and compare how it sounds in different words (e.g. for me 'sure' is nothing like 'cure').

It depends on accent but also on word

Sure, pure, cure would in my accent rhyme with fewer

Picture, figure, conjure would be more of a schwa (a/er type sound)

Thanks - I was wondering about just this point the other day and getting in a right muddle on behalf of ds (5)

In our school only cure pure and manure are used for demonstrating 'ure'. Adventure, picture and others come later as an alternate 'ch' sound. (Down south)

I'll show and tell you the 'official' version, then give you details of the source:

The /yoor/ sound is spelled -ure :

pure cure immature impure manure mature obscure secure.

If you get this book you need never have similar queries again:

An inexpensive and easy to use book, that can encourage children with reading, spelling and writing, and really help them to understand Phonics, is reviewed in the MN Book Reviews section. Just search ‘Phonics’.

We using Floppy Phonics at school, and teach /ure/ as y-or - cure, manure, pure. In sure - is is more of a or sound.

/ture/ is taught as the next sound - with the t making a ch sound followed by u - so a chu sound , as in picture, adventure

Google Phonics International for examples.

How does your DS pronounce it or words with it in? That might be the best way to tackle his confusion.

This is one of those graphemes that varies a lot with regional pronunciation. My NE relatives would pronounce it much like you and mrz - /yoo/ +/schwa er/. It would be /y+or/ in my southern accent. From a teaching point of view you would normally go with the accent of the local area. But if his is different from the local area, I'd try going with that.

There isn't an "official version" teachers should teach to the accent of the children

Ha ha, this reminds me of when I used to help out in reception class.... I always came away thinking I didn't talk properly

Camolips do you ignore the other sounds in the words you use as examples?

Phonics isn't about speaking "properly" it's about the sounds you can hear when you say the word and how they are represented in writing. The key is listening.

Its taught as the or sound first

Mrz I speak properly for the county I grew up in but a little different from where I live and where my children go to school. Doesn't seem to be an audible R in their vocabulary, whereas there is in mine!

Mrz I speak properly for the county I grew up in but a little different from where I live and where my children go to school. Doesn't seem to be an audible R in their vocabulary, whereas there is in mine!

Exactly! There are regional variations in how we pronounce words and all are correct which is why teachers need to adjust their teaching to suit the child's accent (especially important if the teacher has a different accent).

Ferguson: ^The /yoor/ sound is spelled -ure :

pure cure immature impure manure mature obscure secure.^

The /yoor/ sound can indeed be spelt , but also 'your',
and in 'nature' it does not spell the /yoor/ sound.

The main sound of the spelling is /cher/ (picture, future, adventure), but this can also be spelt (pitcher, butcher, thatcher).
So it's all a bit confusing for parents and children.

But back to -ure.
53 common words end in -ure. They include 31 with -ture, 30 of which end with /-cher/ (puncture, vulture...except 'mature').

Of the remaining 22,
11 end with a /yoor/ sound:
assure
cure
endure
insure
lure
manure
obscure
procure
pure
secure
sure

but 11 don't:
conjure
exposure
failure
figure
fissure
injure
measure
pleasure
pressure
procedure
treasure.

I have no idea how this is tackled in phonics lessons
or if this information can be of help to u, but those are the facts.
Masha Bell

I think you need to split your first list, Masha. In my accent, at least, some of those /yoor/ words are actually /or/.

RafaIsTheKingOfClay,
Please say which of the words spell /or/ with 'ure' in your accent.
I guess the ones ending in -sure?
assure
insure
sure ?
That's the effect of /sh/ before /yoor/.

Thanks for all the info - glad it's not just me who finds it confusing!

I would pronounce 'pure' as p-y-oo-er but 'assure' would not have any kind of y sound in - ash-oo-er.

I think I'll have a go with yoor and see how we get on. I might well be back for more advice!

They are in my accent too Rafa

Iwill the spelling represents different sounds so needs to be taught that way (think about the spelling it can be /ee/ as in bea or /ai/ as in steak or /e/ as in bread ) same spelling different sounds ... Thàts why it's important to say the words and listen for the sound you can hear in each word. There isn't a simple answer...

Masha I would say sure with /yoor/ but assure /oo er/