Lessons Unit 3, lesson 23

Join the halves: m + at → mat

You know beginnings (ma, si, to) and endings (at, it, op). A whole word is just both halves said as one breath: m…at — mat. s…it — sit. Read each sheet below, find the beginning and the ending you already know, then say them as one word.

What do the marks mean?
ˈriːdread Stressed part — say it louder & longer.
to Weak word — say it quickly & softly.
e Silent letter — don’t pronounce it.
θth Underline — these letters spell one sound.
wa·ter Dot · — a syllable break.
goon Linked — blend the words together.
?↗︎↘︎ Arrows — voice rises ↗︎ or falls ↘︎.
ˈsɛvən7 Number — how to say it aloud.
read² ² mark — has a second pronunciation.
guess? ? mark — a best guess; double-check it.

Want the full walkthrough? Read the map explains every mark, with practice.

Now say it yourself

Read each word from its sheet, out loud, three times. Where there's a play button, listen first and copy what you hear. Slow is fine — speaking clearly matters more than speaking fast. Tap a word's microphone to record yourself and see which sounds landed.

ˈm m æ a t t
mat
ˈs s æ a t t
sat
ˈs s ɪ i t t
sit
ˈf f ɪ i t t
fit
ˈn n ɛ e t t
net
ˈh h ɛ e n n
hen
ˈt t ɑː o p p
top
ˈh h ɑː o p p
hop
ˈm m æ a d d
mad
ˈk k ɪ i d d
kid

Two halves, one breath

Every word on this page is a beginning you've already practiced — m, s, t, f, h, k — joined to an ending you've already practiced, like at, it, or op. The only new skill here is timing: saying both halves in a single breath with nothing between them, so m + at becomes mat, not two separate pieces.

The most common mistake

The most common mistake is adding a tiny extra vowel between the consonant and the vowel, so mat comes out as "muh-at" or sit comes out as "suh-it." English consonants at the start of a word attach directly to the vowel with no schwa in between.

Read each pair slowly first, beginning then ending, then squeeze them together faster and faster until they land as one word: hen, hop, kid. If you find yourself pausing between the two halves, that pause is exactly the gap you're training away — a real English word never has it.

That's the whole trick of reading English aloud: every word is halves you already know. The next unit turns this into real vocabulary, easiest first.

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