Year 2 common exception words
Year group: 2
Source: DfE, English Appendix 1: Spelling, National Curriculum for England (2013) — Year 2 exception words
Curriculum requirement: Statutory
Purpose: Year 2 common exception words from the DfE National Curriculum — the KS1 words pupils must learn by heart, with example sentences.
Introduction
Year 2 common exception words are words that cannot be reliably spelled using the phonics patterns taught so far. Each one has a "tricky part" — a letter or letter combination that doesn't behave as expected.
The key teaching principle: identify the tricky part, don't treat the whole word as a mystery. Most of these words are almost entirely phonically regular except for one or two letters. Teach children to find the tricky part and focus their attention there.
(Approach recommended by: Ofsted Research Review Series: English (2022); Letters and Sounds (DfE, 2007))
The statutory Year 2 exception word list
door · floor · poor · because · find · kind · mind · behind · child · children · wild · climb · most · only · both · old · cold · gold · hold · told · every · everybody · even · great · break · steak · pretty · beautiful · after · fast · last · past · father · class · grass · pass · plant · path · bath · hour · move · prove · improve · sure · sugar · eye · could · should · would · who · whole · any · many · clothes · busy · people · water · again · half · money · Mr · Mrs · parents · Christmas
(Verified against DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013))
Grouped by tricky pattern
Group 1: -oor and -oor (unexpected vowel)
| Word | Tricky part | Note |
|---|---|---|
| door | oo = /ɔː/ | not the /uː/ of moon |
| floor | oo = /ɔː/ | same as door |
| poor | oo = /ʊə/ or /ɔː/ | rhymes with sure in some accents |
Memory: door and floor rhyme — learn them as a pair.
Group 2: -ild, -ind, -old families (/aɪ/ and /oʊ/ before two consonants)
Normally, a vowel before two consonants is short. These words are exceptions — the vowel is long even before the consonant cluster.
-ild family:
| Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| child | /tʃaɪld/ — long /aɪ/ |
| children | /ˈtʃɪldrən/ — note: child shortens in children |
| wild | /waɪld/ — long /aɪ/ |
| mild | /maɪld/ |
-ind family:
| Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| find | /faɪnd/ — long /aɪ/ |
| kind | /kaɪnd/ |
| mind | /maɪnd/ |
| behind | /bɪˈhaɪnd/ |
| blind | /blaɪnd/ |
-old family:
| Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| old | /oʊld/ — long /oʊ/ |
| cold | /koʊld/ |
| gold | /goʊld/ |
| hold | /hoʊld/ |
| told | /toʊld/ |
| bold | /boʊld/ |
| most | /moʊst/ — related pattern |
| both | /boʊθ/ |
| only | /ˈoʊnli/ |
Memory: the -ild, -ind, and -old families are genuine patterns — teach the whole family, not individual words. Knowing kind helps with find, mind, behind.
Group 3: -ost pattern
| Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| most | /moʊst/ — o = long |
| also | (connected — also o = long) |
Group 4: Silent letters and unexpected sounds
| Word | Tricky part | Note |
|---|---|---|
| climb | silent b | same as lamb, bomb |
| whole | silent w; wh = /h/ | also o = /oʊ/ |
| who | wh = /h/, o = /uː/ | unusual spelling |
| hour | silent h | from French heure |
| half | silent l | Old English healf |
| eye | unusual spelling | Old English ēage |
Group 5: ou = /ʌ/ (French-origin words)
| Word | Note |
|---|---|
| could | ou = /ʊ/ — the l is also silent |
| should | ou = /ʊ/ — silent l |
| would | ou = /ʊ/ — silent l; w = /w/ |
| young | ou = /ʌ/ |
Note: these are different patterns. could/should/would have ou = /ʊ/ with a silent l. The l was in Old English sculan and willan.
Group 6: ea = unexpected sounds
| Word | ea sound | Note |
|---|---|---|
| great | ea = /eɪ/ | not the usual /iː/ of eat |
| break | ea = /eɪ/ | same family as great |
| steak | ea = /eɪ/ | a cut of meat |
| pretty | e = /ɪ/ | unusual vowel |
Memory: great, break, steak all rhyme — they share the ea = /eɪ/ pattern.
Group 7: -ath, -ast, -lass (Southern British accent words)
In Southern British English, these words have a long /ɑː/ vowel. In Northern British English, they have a short /æ/. The spelling is the same regardless of accent.
| Word | Southern /ɑː/ | Northern /æ/ |
|---|---|---|
| after | /ˈɑːftə/ | /ˈæftə/ |
| fast | /fɑːst/ | /fæst/ |
| last | /lɑːst/ | /læst/ |
| past | /pɑːst/ | /pæst/ |
| class | /klɑːs/ | /klæs/ |
| grass | /ɡrɑːs/ | /ɡræs/ |
| pass | /pɑːs/ | /pæs/ |
| path | /pɑːθ/ | /pæθ/ |
| bath | /bɑːθ/ | /bæθ/ |
| plant | /plɑːnt/ | /plænt/ |
| father | /ˈfɑːðə/ | /ˈfæðə/ |
These are not spelling exceptions — the spelling follows regular rules. They are accent-based variations. Teach children: the spelling is the same regardless of how you say it.
Group 8: Miscellaneous — must be learned individually
| Word | Tricky part | Memory hint |
|---|---|---|
| because | bec- + ause | "Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants" |
| beautiful | eau = /juː/ | French beau (beautiful) |
| pretty | e = /ɪ/ | unusual middle vowel |
| busy | u = /ɪ/ | business is its related word |
| people | eo = /iː/ | Old English peoplу |
| water | a = /ɔː/ | w before a changes the vowel sound |
| sugar | su = /ʃ/ | unusual s + u making /ʃ/ |
| sure | su = /ʃ/ | same as sugar |
| again | a = /ə/ | unstressed first syllable |
| money | o = /ʌ/ | French origin; same as monkey, honey |
| many | a = /ɛ/ | unusual vowel |
| any | a = /ɛ/ | same as many |
| every | three syllables: ev-er-y | often reduced in speech |
| move | o = /uː/ | French origin mouvoir |
| improve | o = /uː/ | im- + prove |
| prove | o = /uː/ | same family as move |
| clothes | th = /ð/, es swallowed | pronounced /kloʊðz/ |
| Christmas | Ch = /k/ | Greek origin Christos |
Teaching order
Don't teach all 64 words at once. The research recommends a pretest-teach-retest approach:
- Pretest the class — which words do children already know?
- Focus on the unknown — concentrate practice on words individuals can't spell
- Group by pattern — teach the -ind family together, the ea = /eɪ/ family together
- Return and revisit — words taught this week reappear in tests next week and next month
(Source: Dymock & Nicholson (2017). Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties.)
Dictation sentences
- Because the water was pretty cold, the children chose not to swim.
- Every child in the class could find their whole gold star.
- Mr and Mrs Williams told the people to move away from the floor.
- She would climb the old path to find beautiful wild plants.
- Half the class knew that Christmas was only a few busy days away.
Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). The Year 2 exception word list is reproduced exactly as published in the statutory document.