The letter A makes the sound heard in the words apple, black and cat. This is the sound (short a) you would first introduce to a child. The letter A also makes the long a sound as heard in able, make, rain*, and day*. The letter A makes a variety of sounds. It is most commonly found using the short a sound; however, it also makes the following sounds:
- Schwa, e.g., about, comma and ago,
- AL Digraph, e.g., all, talk and call,
- AU Digraph, e.g., August, auto and because,
- AW Digraph, e.g., awful, lawn and draw,
- /air/ Vowel (AR and ARE spellings), e.g., vary, care and parent, and
- /ar/ Vowel (Bossy R), e.g., are, March and car.
* Vowel team rule (AI, AY, EA and OA): The vowel team rule states when two vowels go walking the first does the talking (says its name) and the second vowel is silent, e.g., brain, pray, beach and boat. There are a few exceptions to this rule. The combination of the vowels E and A also result in the short e sound, e.g. head, feather and heaven.
In some instances, the letter a can sound like the short o, e.g. watch.
Letter A Worksheets
We created worksheets to help your child practice forming the upper- and lowercase letter A correctly. Ideally, letters should be formed from top to bottom and left to right with a continuous stroke when possible. The uppercase A is formed as follows: slant left, lift, slant right, lift and cross. The lowercase a is formed as follows: around, up and down.
Letter A Worksheet 1
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter A.
Letter A Worksheet 2
We offer a free printable worksheet that focuses on the uppercase letter A. We encourage a child to say, trace and write the uppercase letter A.
Letter A Worksheet 3
We offer a free printable worksheet that focuses on the lowercase letter a. We encourage a child to say, trace and write the lowercase letter a.
Letter A Worksheet 4
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter a.
Letter A Worksheet 5
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter a.
Letter A Worksheet 6
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter a. We also included a fun game – circle the items that begin with the letter a.
Words with the Letter A
The table below contains a list of words with the letter a that make the short a sound. We also indicate the location of the /a/ sound – beginning (initial) and middle (medial). Our list contains 350 words; please use our search feature to narrow results.
Letter A Words | Sound |
---|---|
Africa | initial |
act | initial |
action | initial |
add | initial |
address | initial |
adjective | initial |
after | initial |
am | initial |
an | initial |
anchor | initial |
and | initial |
anger | initial |
animal | initial |
answer | initial |
ant | initial |
apple | initial |
as | initial |
ask | initial |
astronaut | initial |
at | initial |
athlete | initial |
ax | initial |
back | medial |
backpack | medial |
bad | medial |
badge | medial |
bag | medial |
ban | medial |
band | medial |
bandage | medial |
bang | medial |
banjo | medial |
bash | medial |
basket | medial |
basketball | medial |
bat | medial |
batch | medial |
bath | medial |
bathroom | medial |
bathtub | medial |
battery | medial |
began | medial |
blab | medial |
black | medial |
blanch | medial |
bland | medial |
blanket | medial |
blast | medial |
Brad | medial |
brag | medial |
bran | medial |
branch | medial |
brand | medial |
brash | medial |
brass | medial |
brat | medial |
cab | medial |
cactus | medial |
calf | medial |
camera | medial |
camp | medial |
can | medial |
candle | medial |
candy | medial |
cannot | medial |
can't | medial |
canteen | medial |
cap | medial |
cash | medial |
cashew | medial |
cassette | medial |
cast | medial |
castle | medial |
cat | medial |
catch | medial |
caterpillar | medial |
Chad | medial |
chaff | medial |
champ | medial |
chance | medial |
chant | medial |
chap | medial |
chat | medial |
clack | medial |
clad | medial |
clam | medial |
clamp | medial |
clan | medial |
clang | medial |
clap | medial |
clash | medial |
clasp | medial |
class | medial |
crab | medial |
crack | medial |
cracker | medial |
craft | medial |
cram | medial |
cramp | medial |
dab | medial |
dad | medial |
dam | medial |
damp | medial |
Dan | medial |
dance | medial |
dandelion | medial |
dash | medial |
drab | medial |
draft | medial |
dragon | medial |
fact | medial |
fad | medial |
falcon | medial |
family | medial |
fan | medial |
fang | medial |
fast | medial |
fat | medial |
flab | medial |
flag | medial |
flap | medial |
flash | medial |
flashlight | medial |
flat | medial |
flax | medial |
France | medial |
gab | medial |
gag | medial |
gang | medial |
gap | medial |
gas | medial |
gash | medial |
gasp | medial |
giraffe | medial |
glad | medial |
glance | medial |
gland | medial |
glass | medial |
glasses | medial |
gnat | medial |
grab | medial |
graft | medial |
gram | medial |
grandfather | medial |
grandmother | medial |
grant | medial |
grasp | medial |
grass | medial |
grasshopper | medial |
hack | medial |
had | medial |
hag | medial |
half | medial |
ham | medial |
hamburger | medial |
hammer | medial |
hamster | medial |
hand | medial |
hang | medial |
hanger | medial |
happen | medial |
happy | medial |
has | medial |
hash | medial |
hat | medial |
hatch | medial |
jab | medial |
Jack | medial |
jacket | medial |
jag | medial |
jam | medial |
knack | medial |
lab | medial |
lack | medial |
lad | medial |
ladder | medial |
lag | medial |
lamb | medial |
lamp | medial |
lance | medial |
land | medial |
lap | medial |
lash | medial |
lass | medial |
last | medial |
latch | medial |
lax | medial |
mad | medial |
magic | medial |
magnet | medial |
man | medial |
mango | medial |
map | medial |
mash | medial |
mask | medial |
mass | medial |
mast | medial |
mat | medial |
match | medial |
math | medial |
matter | medial |
Max | medial |
nag | medial |
nap | medial |
napkin | medial |
pacifier | medial |
pack | medial |
package | medial |
pact | medial |
pad | medial |
pal | medial |
Pam | medial |
pan | medial |
pancake | medial |
panda | medial |
pang | medial |
pant | medial |
pass | medial |
past | medial |
pat | medial |
patch | medial |
path | medial |
photograph | medial |
picnic basket | medial |
pineapple | medial |
pistachio | medial |
plan | medial |
planet | medial |
plant | medial |
plasma | medial |
practice | medial |
prance | medial |
quack | medial |
rabbit | medial |
raccoon | medial |
rack | medial |
radish | medial |
raft | medial |
rag | medial |
ram | medial |
ramp | medial |
ran | medial |
ranch | medial |
rang | medial |
rant | medial |
rap | medial |
rash | medial |
rasp | medial |
raspberry | medial |
rat | medial |
rattle | medial |
rectangular | medial |
sack | medial |
sad | medial |
sag | medial |
salmon | medial |
Sam | medial |
sand | medial |
sandwich | medial |
sang | medial |
sap | medial |
sash | medial |
sat | medial |
Saturday | medial |
Saturn | medial |
saxophone | medial |
scab | medial |
scam | medial |
scamp | medial |
scan | medial |
scram | medial |
scrap | medial |
scratch | medial |
shack | medial |
shadow | medial |
shaft | medial |
shaggy | medial |
sham | medial |
shampoo | medial |
slab | medial |
slack | medial |
slag | medial |
slam | medial |
slang | medial |
slant | medial |
slap | medial |
slash | medial |
slat | medial |
smack | medial |
smash | medial |
snack | medial |
snag | medial |
snap | medial |
span | medial |
spasm | medial |
spat | medial |
splash | medial |
sprang | medial |
stab | medial |
stack | medial |
staff | medial |
stag | medial |
stamp | medial |
stance | medial |
stand | medial |
stash | medial |
strand | medial |
strap | medial |
subtract | medial |
sunglasses | medial |
swagger | medial |
swam | medial |
tab | medial |
tack | medial |
tact | medial |
tag | medial |
tamp | medial |
tan | medial |
tang | medial |
tap | medial |
task | medial |
tax | medial |
than | medial |
thank | medial |
that | medial |
thatch | medial |
thrash | medial |
track | medial |
tract | medial |
traffic | medial |
traffic light | medial |
trance | medial |
trap | medial |
trash | medial |
trash can | medial |
travel | medial |
triangle | medial |
understand | medial |
unhappy | medial |
vacuum | medial |
value | medial |
van | medial |
vast | medial |
wag | medial |
wagon | medial |
wax | medial |
whack | medial |
wrap | medial |
yam | medial |
yap | medial |
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