The un- prefix and Year 1 common exception words
Year group: 1
Source: DfE, English Appendix 1: Spelling, National Curriculum for England (2013) — Year 1
Curriculum requirement: Statutory
Purpose: Year 1 guide to the un- prefix and KS1 common exception words — how un- reverses meaning, plus high-frequency words pupils must learn by heart.
Part A: The un- prefix
The prefix un- means "not" or "the reverse of." It is added to the beginning of a word. The spelling of the base word never changes.
happy → unhappy (not happy)
lock → unlock (reverse of locking)
do → undo (reverse of doing)
kind → unkind (not kind)
Key points:
- un- always uses one n
- When the base word starts with n, you get a double n: un- + natural = unnatural; un- + necessary = unnecessary
- The base word is spelled exactly as it normally would be
un- word examples for Year 1
| un- word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| unhappy | not happy |
| unkind | not kind |
| untidy | not tidy |
| unfair | not fair |
| unlock | reverse of lock |
| undo | reverse of do |
| unwell | not well |
| unsafe | not safe |
| unpack | reverse of pack |
| unzip | reverse of zip |
| unable | not able |
| unclear | not clear |
| unfit | not fit |
| unusual | not usual |
| unhelpful | not helpful |
Part B: Year 1 common exception words
These words are called common exception words because they cannot be spelled reliably using the phonics patterns taught so far. They contain tricky parts — unusual grapheme-phoneme correspondences — that children need to learn to recognise on sight.
The DfE statutory list for Year 1 must be taught before the end of Year 1.
(Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013), Year 1 exception word list)
The statutory Year 1 exception word list
The, a, do, to, today, of, said, says, are, were, was, is, his, has, I, you, your, they, be, he, me, she, we, no, go, so, by, my, here, there, where, love, come, some, one, once, ask, friend, school, put, push, pull, full, house, our
Grouped by tricky pattern
Words where the vowel doesn't follow phonics:
| Word | Tricky part | Why |
|---|---|---|
| said | ai = /ɛ/ | not the usual /eɪ/ of rain |
| says | ay = /ɛ/ | not the usual /eɪ/ |
| was | a = /ɒ/ | not the short /æ/ of cat |
| are | are = /ɑː/ | the e is silent |
| were | ere = /ɜː/ | unusual vowel |
| love | o = /ʌ/ | not the short /ɒ/ of lot |
| come | o = /ʌ/ | same pattern as love |
| some | o = /ʌ/ | same pattern |
| one | o = /w/ + vowel | very unusual pronunciation /wʌn/ |
| once | o = /w/ + vowel | same as one |
| school | sch = /sk/ | Greek origin |
| friend | ie = /ɛ/ | not the usual /iː/ of field |
| here | ere = /ɪə/ | different from were |
| there | ere = /eə/ | different again |
| where | ere = /eə/ | rhymes with there |
| house | ou = /aʊ/ | this is regular but worth highlighting |
| our | our = /aʊə/ | rhymes with hour |
| your | our = /ɔː/ | different sound from our |
Words where letters are silent:
| Word | Silent letter |
|---|---|
| ask | no silent letter — /æsk/ is regular; but often confused |
| push | regular — worth noting sh digraph |
| pull | regular — u = /ʊ/ not /ʌ/ |
| full | regular — u = /ʊ/ |
| put | u = /ʊ/ not /ʌ/ |
Teaching strategies for exception words
1. Identify the tricky part. Don't treat the whole word as strange. Isolate which phoneme is unexpected: in said, the ai = /ɛ/ is the only tricky part.
2. Read, cover, write, check — but with understanding. The child should be able to say why the word is tricky, not just attempt it from memory.
3. Sentences in context. Exception words must be seen and used in sentences, not just on lists. "The word said has ai that makes the short e sound — like said she said something."
4. Group words by pattern. Love, come, some all have o = /ʌ/ — teach them as a family, not three separate words.
5. Frequent, short practice. A few words, many times, over many weeks. Not 44 words in January and never again.
The love/come/some/one family
These four words all have the letter o making the /ʌ/ sound:
love → /lʌv/
come → /kʌm/
some → /sʌm/
mother → /mʌðə/
brother → /brʌðə/
wonder → /wʌndə/
word → /wɜːd/
Teach this as a recurring pattern: o often says /ʌ/ in Old English words, especially before m, n, v, and th. This is not random — it's a historical pattern.
Dictation sentences (Year 1 exception words in context)
- My friend was at school today and said she loves our class.
- He went to the house but no one was there.
- She said some kind words and we were all happy.
- Here is your book — put it where it was before.
- They come once a week and do some good work for us.
Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). The Year 1 common exception word list is reproduced exactly as published in the statutory document.