The Letter I

The letter I makes the sound heard in the words in, big and little. This is the sound (short i) you would first introduce to a child. The letter I also makes the long I sound as heard in five, pie*, and tiny. The letter i makes a variety of sounds. It is most commonly found using the short i sound; it can also make the following sounds:

• Schwa, e.g., holiday, giraffe and stencil,
• Long E, e.g., ski, marine and debris,
• Letter Y , e.g., onion, million and billion,
• Long A, e.g., pain, rain and mail*,
• Long A, e.g., neigh, sleigh and weigh*,
• Long E, e.g., piece, shield and yield*,
• OI Diphthongs, e.g., oil, coin and void,
• IR Vowel, e.g., girl, fir and sir, and
• AIR Vowel, e.g., air, fair and chair.

* Vowel team rule (AI and IE) and an irregular vowel team (IE and EI): The vowel team rule states when two vowels go walking the first does the talking and the second vowel is silent. There are a few exceptions to this rule, e.g. the combination of IE and EI.

When combined with other vowels, the letter i makes the schwa sound, e.g., special, spaniel and notion. In some instances, the letter i is silent, e.g. juice and guitar.

Letter I Worksheets

We created worksheets to help your child practice forming the upper- and lowercase letter I correctly. Ideally, letters should be formed from top to bottom and left to right with a continuous stroke when possible. The uppercase I is formed as follows: down, lift, cross, lift and cross. The lowercase i is formed as follows: down, lift and dot.

Letter I Worksheet 1
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter I.

Letter I Worksheet 2
We offer a free printable worksheet that focuses on the uppercase letter I. We encourage a child to say, trace and write the uppercase letter I.

Letter I Worksheet 3
We offer a free printable worksheet that focuses on the lowercase letter i. We encourage a child to say, trace and write the lowercase letter i.

Letter I Worksheet 4
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter i.

Letter I Worksheet 5
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter i.

Letter I Worksheet 6
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter i. We also included a fun game – circle the items that begin with the letter i.

Words with the Letter I

The table below contains a list of words with the letter i. We also indicate the location of the short i sound – beginning (initial) or middle (medial). Our list contains 360 words; please use our search feature to narrow results.

Letter I Words	Sound
alligator	medial
animal	medial
artist	medial
begin	medial
bib	medial
bid	medial
big	medial
bill	medial
bin	medial
Bing	medial
binge	medial
bit	medial
blimp	medial
blink	medial
blip	medial
bliss	medial
brick	medial
bridge	medial
brim	medial
bring	medial
brisk	medial
chick	medial
chicken	medial
chill	medial
chimp	medial
chimpanzee	medial
chin	medial
chip	medial
cinch	medial
city	medial
clarinet	medial
click	medial
cliff	medial
clinch	medial
cling	medial
clink	medial
clip	medial
crib	medial
cricket	medial
cringe	medial
crisp	medial
Dick	medial
did	medial
different	medial
dig	medial
dill	medial
dim	medial
ding	medial
dinner	medial
dip	medial
discover	medial
dish	medial
disk	medial
ditch	medial
drift	medial
drill	medial
drink	medial
drip	medial
family	medial
fib	medial
fifteen	medial
fifth	medial
fifty	medial
fig	medial
fill	medial
fin	medial
finger	medial
finish	medial
fish	medial
fist	medial
fit	medial
fix	medial
flinch	medial
flip	medial
flippers	medial
frill	medial
frisk	medial
furniture	medial
gift	medial
gig	medial
gill	medial
gilt	medial
give	medial
glint	medial
gorilla	medial
grid	medial
grill	medial
grim	medial
grin	medial
grip	medial
grit	medial
helicopter	medial
hid	medial
hill	medial
him	medial
hinge	medial
hint	medial
hip	medial
his	medial
hiss	medial
hit	medial
hitch	medial
holiday	medial
horrible	medial
if	initial
igloo	initial
ignite	initial
ignore	initial
ill	initial
image	initial
immune	initial
impact	initial
important	initial
in	initial
inch	initial
incline	initial
include	initial
income	initial
incorrect	initial
increase	initial
incur	initial
indeed	initial
Independence Day	initial
index	initial
index finger	initial / medial
Indian	initial
infant	initial
infect	initial
infield	initial
inflate	initial
ink	initial
in-law	initial
inn	initial
inner	initial
input	initial
insect	initial
inside	initial
insist	initial / medial
inspire	initial
install	initial
instant	initial
instead	initial
instruction	initial
instrument	initial
into	initial
invent	initial
is	initial
isn't	initial
it	initial
itch	initial
its	initial
jig	medial
Jill	medial
Jim	medial
Jupiter	medial
kick	medial
kid	medial
kill	medial
kilt	medial
Kim	medial
kin	medial
king	medial
kiss	medial
kit	medial
kitchen	medial
kitten	medial
knit	medial
lick	medial
lid	medial
lift	medial
lily	medial
limp	medial
link	medial
lint	medial
lip	medial
lisp	medial
list	medial
listen	medial
lit	medial
little	medial
lizard	medial
magic	medial
medicine	medial
mid	medial
miff	medial
milk	medial
mill	medial
mince	medial
mink	medial
mint	medial
minute	medial
miss	medial
mist	medial
mistake	medial
mitten	medial
mix	medial
mixer	medial
muffin	medial
music	medial
napkin	medial
Nick	medial
nickel	medial
nip	medial
office	medial
officer	medial
olive	medial
pelican	medial
pick	medial
pickle	medial
picnic	medial
picture	medial
pig	medial
pigeon	medial
piglet	medial
pill	medial
pillow	medial
pin	medial
piñata	medial
pinch	medial
ping	medial
pink	medial
pit	medial
pitch	medial
pitcher	medial
possible	medial
president	medial
primp	medial
prince	medial
princess	medial
print	medial
promise	medial
quick	medial
quill	medial
quilt	medial
quit	medial
quiz	medial
rabbit	medial
rib	medial
ribbon	medial
rich	medial
Rick	medial
rid	medial
riddle	medial
rift	medial
rig	medial
rim	medial
ring	medial
rink	medial
rip	medial
risk	medial
river	medial
robin	medial
scissors	medial
shift	medial
shin	medial
ship	medial
shrink	medial
sick	medial
sift	medial
silk	medial
silly	medial
silver	medial
sin	medial
since	medial
sing	medial
sink	medial
sip	medial
sister	medial
sit	medial
six	medial
sixteen	medial
sixty	medial
skid	medial
skill	medial
skimp	medial
skin	medial
skip	medial
skit	medial
slick	medial
slid	medial
slim	medial
sling	medial
slip	medial
slit	medial
sniff	medial
spill	medial
spin	medial
spinach	medial
spit	medial
splint	medial
split	medial
spring	medial
sprint	medial
squint	medial
stick	medial
sticker	medial
still	medial
sting	medial
stink	medial
stint	medial
string	medial
strip	medial
swift	medial
swig	medial
swim	medial
swing	medial
swish	medial
Swiss	medial
switch	medial
terrible	medial
thick	medial
thin	medial
thing	medial
think	medial
this	medial
thrift	medial
thrill	medial
tick	medial
ticket	medial
tiff	medial
tilt	medial
Tim	medial
tin	medial
tint	medial
tip	medial
trick	medial
trim	medial
trip	medial
twig	medial
twin	medial
twist	medial
until	medial
victory	medial
video	medial
which	medial
whiff	medial
whip	medial
whisk	medial
whiskers	medial
whisper	medial
whistle	medial
wick	medial
wig	medial
will	medial
wilt	medial
win	medial
window	medial
wing	medial
wink	medial
winter	medial
wish	medial
wisp	medial
wit	medial
witch	medial
with	medial
without	medial
wring	medial
wrist	medial
zip	medial
zipper	medial