Years 3/4 Statutory Spelling Word List — grouped by pattern
Year group: 3/4
Source: DfE, English Appendix 1: Spelling, National Curriculum for England (2013) — Years 3–4 Word List
Curriculum requirement: Statutory — all schools must teach these 100 words by the end of Year 4
Purpose: The full DfE Years 3 & 4 statutory spelling word list — all 100 words with example sentences, free to use, print, and practise.
Why these words?
The Y3/4 statutory list contains words that children commonly misspell AND that appear frequently in their reading and writing. Unlike the phonically regular words children can decode from rules, most of these words have patterns that need explicit teaching — a tricky vowel spelling, a silent letter, an unusual suffix, or a morpheme that unlocks the whole word family.
The most effective approach is to group the words by pattern rather than teaching them as a random list. When children understand why a word is spelled as it is, they remember it far more reliably.
(Source: Dymock & Nicholson, 2017; Moats, 2006 — rule-based instruction produces significantly greater retention than word-list memorisation)
Group 1: Words with -ough (tricky vowel string)
| Word | Pattern note |
|---|---|
| though | -ough = /oʊ/ (like "oh") |
| through | -ough = /uː/ (like "oo") |
| thought | -ough = /ɔː/ (like "aw") — also: bought, brought |
| although | -ough = /oʊ/ — though with al- prefix |
Teach together: these four words show that -ough has multiple pronunciations. The spelling is consistent even when the sound varies.
Group 2: Words with silent letters
| Word | Silent letter | Etymology hint |
|---|---|---|
| island | silent s | Old English igland — the s crept in through confusion with Latin insula |
| reign | silent g | Old French reignier — the g reflects the Latin regnum (kingdom); signal and sign share this |
| guard | silent u | Old French garder — the u preserves the hard g (cf. guitar, guarantee) |
| guide | silent u | Same pattern as guard — u keeps the g hard |
| build | silent u | Old English byldan — the u is a spelling remnant |
| surprise | no silent letter, but -prise often misspelled | French surpris — think sur (over) + prise (taken) |
| knowledge | silent k | Old English cnāwan (to know) — the k was once pronounced |
Group 3: Double letters (not from doubling rule)
| Word | Pattern note |
|---|---|
| accident | cc — from Latin accidere (to happen to); ac- prefix + cidere |
| occupy | cc — Latin occupare; same oc- prefix pattern |
| occasion | cc — Latin occasio; ob- + cadere |
| address | dd — Latin addirector; ad- prefix |
| possess | ss — Latin possidere; -sess stem |
| sufficient | ff — Latin sufficere; suf- prefix |
| committee | mm, tt, ee — Latin committere; three doubled letters |
| difference | ff — Latin differre; dif- prefix |
| difficulty | ff — Latin difficilis; dif- prefix |
Teach together: many double letters come from a prefix ending in the same letter as the base word starts with. ac + cident = accident; oc + cupy = occupy.
Group 4: -ate and -tion word families
| Word | Word family unlock |
|---|---|
| sentence | sent- = feel/sense (Latin sentire); also: sentiment, sentimental |
| separate | separ- = apart (Latin separare); "there is a rat in separate" (mnemonic) |
| immediate | im- + mediate = without a middle; at once |
| experiment | ex- (out) + peri- (try) + -ment; also: experience |
| certain | from Latin certus = decided, fixed; also: certify, certificate, certainty |
| complete | com- (together) + plete (fill); also: completion, complement |
| consider | from Latin considerare — to observe the stars; also: considerable, consideration |
| continue | from Latin continuare; also: continuous, continuation |
| decide | de- (off) + cide (cut); also: decision |
| describe | de- + scribe (write); also: description, prescribe |
| position | from Latin positio; also: positive, deposit |
| promise | from Latin promissa; also: promising |
| purpose | Old French porpos; also: purposeful, purposely |
| sentence | see above |
| suppose | sub- (under) + pose (put); also: supposition |
Group 5: -ary, -ery endings
| Word | Note |
|---|---|
| February | Feb-ru-a-ry — four syllables; the r is often swallowed in speech |
| library | lib-ra-ry — three syllables; often mispronounced libary |
| ordinary | or-di-na-ry — four syllables; often reduced in speech |
| necessary | one c, double s: ne-ce-ss-a-ry — "it is necessary to have one collar and two socks" (mnemonic) |
| history | from Greek historia — an inquiry; also: historical, historian |
| mystery | from Greek mysterion — a secret rite; also: mysterious |
| memory | from Latin memoria; also: memorable, memorial |
Group 6: Words with unusual vowel patterns
| Word | Tricky pattern | Memory hook |
|---|---|---|
| breath | ea = /ɛ/ (short e) | breathe has a long sound; breath is the noun with short sound |
| breathe | ea = /iː/ (long e) | the verb: breathe deeply |
| height | eigh = /aɪ/ | like eight, weight, freight |
| weight | eigh = /aɪ/ | same family as eight |
| eight | eigh = /aɪ/ | eighth, eighteen, eighty |
| heart | ear = /ɑː/ | not the usual ear = /ɪə/ sound |
| earth | ear = /ɜː/ | third vowel sound for ear spelling |
| heard | ear = /ɜː/ | heard (past) vs hear (present) |
| learn | ear = /ɜː/ | same family as earth, heard |
| early | ear = /ɜː/ | same family |
| fruit | ui = /uː/ | from French fruit; also: suit, juice, bruise |
| group | ou = /uː/ | French origin |
| beautiful | eau = /juː/ | French origin (beau = handsome) |
| caught | augh = /ɔː/ | same family as taught, daughter, naughty |
| naughty | augh = /ɔː/ | naught (zero) + -y |
Group 7: Words with -ce/-se/-ge endings
| Word | Note |
|---|---|
| notice | noti- + -ce |
| practise | verb form (British English) — "practise the skill" (verb has s); practice is the noun |
| sentence | -ence ending |
| experience | -ence ending; ex- + peri- (try) + -ence |
| difference | -ence ending; differ + -ence |
| appearance | -ance ending; appear + -ance |
| disappear | dis- + appear — double p from appear, not from doubling rule |
Group 8: Frequently misspelled — learn the pattern
| Word | Why tricky | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| because | be- + cause — two clear morphemes | "Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants" (mnemonic for letters) |
| believe | be- + lieve — ie not ei | "never beLIEve a LIE" |
| receive | re- + ceive — ei after c | ei after c rule (taught fully at Y5/6) |
| friend | fri- + end — "fri" is the tricky part | "a friend to the end" |
| February | four syllables, second r swallowed | Say it fully: Feb-ru-a-ry |
| separate | sep-a-rate — a not e in middle | "there's a rat in separate" |
| necessary | one c, two s | "one collar, two socks" |
| disappear | dis- + appear | prefix + base: both remain intact |
| occasionally | oc- + casion + -ally | build from occasion → occasional → occasionally |
The full statutory list (alphabetical)
accident, actual, address, answer, appear, arrive, believe, bicycle, bottom, breath, breathe, build, busy, business, calendar, caught, centre, century, certain, circle, complete, consider, continue, decide, describe, different, difficult, disappear, early, earth, eight, enough, exercise, experience, experiment, extreme, famous, favourite, February, forward, fruit, grammar, group, guard, guide, heard, heart, height, history, imagine, important, increase, interest, island, knowledge, learn, length, library, material, medicine, mention, minute, natural, naughty, notice, occasion, often, opposite, ordinary, particular, peculiar, perhaps, popular, position, possess, possible, potatoes, pressure, probably, promise, purpose, quarter, question, recent, regular, reign, remember, sentence, separate, special, straight, strange, strength, suppose, surprise, therefore, though, through, various, weight, woman
(100 words — verified against DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling, 2013)
Source: DfE English Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). Word groupings and etymology are pedagogical aids, not statutory content. All words verified against the published statutory list.