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When the letter R comes after a vowel, it changes the vowel's sound completely. That's why R is called Bossy R: it bosses the vowel and makes it say something new. A+R = /ar/ (car), O+R = /or/ (fork), and E/I/U + R = /er/ (fern, girl, turn).
R-Controlled Words
-AR words
-OR words
ER / IR / UR words
Spelling Word List
15 R-controlled vowel words: AR, OR, and ER/IR/UR.
Bossy R
When R follows a vowel, R bosses the vowel and changes its sound. A says "ah" normally, but A+R says "ar" (as in car). O says "oh" normally, but O+R says "or" (as in fork). ER, IR, and UR all make the same /er/ sound: that is the tricky part! You must learn which spelling each word uses.
Tricky Bossy R Words
All three make exactly the same sound: /er/. Compare: fern, girl, turn: they all sound the same in the stressed syllable but are spelled differently. You must memorise which spelling each word uses; the sound alone won't tell you.
Four (the number) uses OUR but still makes the /or/ sound. Not all /or/ sounds are spelled O+R: OUR (four, your), OAR (board, roar), and even ORE (more, store) can make the same sound.
When W comes before AR, the sound changes from /ar/ to /or/: war, warm, wart, ward. The W softens the vowel. This is a known exception cluster to memorise.
Lyrics
Are you ready? Whoa! To learn about what? R-controlled vowels are also known as Bossy R.
Chorus
When it's after a vowel, the letter R can change the sound of the vowel by far.
A and R can say ar, ar as in car.
O and R can say or, or as in fork.
These letters can say er, er as in fern.
And now you know about Bossy R.
Verse 1: AR words
A can say a, but add the letter R, it makes a new sound: ar as in car.
barn: AR N
stars: ST AR S
cards: C AR DS
march: M AR CH
far: F AR
And now you know about Bossy R.
Verse 2: OR words
O can say o, we know that from before, but add the letter R, and now it can say or.
corn: C OR N
north: N OR TH
horns: H OR NS
sports: SP OR TS
four: F OR
And now you know about Bossy R.
Verse 3: ER/IR/UR words
These vowels are short, but I hope you can infer:
if you add the letter R, they now can say er.
fern: F ER N
germ: G ER M
girl: G IR L
third: TH IR D
And now you know about Bossy R.
Chorus
When it's after a vowel, the letter R can change the sound of the vowel by far.
A and R can say ar, ar as in car.
O and R can say or, or as in fork.
These letters can say er, er as in fern.
And now you know about Bossy R.
Mr. Spelling. That is it. Bye-bye.