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Year 3 spelling words and practice

Spelling practice for every year. Free, with no sign-up, and nothing kept.

By Year 3 the NSW English syllabus moves from sounding out to patterns: which letters can stand for a sound, where in a word they can sit, and how word parts fit together. Children in Years 3 and 4 work on long vowel teams, doubling a letter before an ending, changing y to i, plurals with es and ies, prefixes, contractions and the homophones that trip everyone.

51 Year 3 words below, grouped by pattern, each from Learnest's own Stage 2 questions. The device reads a word aloud, then the sentence it comes from, your child types it, and the slip shows the right spelling with the tricky part marked.

Practise the words

The Year 3 words, by pattern

Ask a grown-up to read the words: say the word, then its sentence, then the word again, while your child writes it down. The list is the answer sheet.

Short vowels with sh, ch, th and ck

  1. ship Omar drew a big ship.
  2. chin Sam has a small dimple on his chin.
  3. chest Zara kept her toys in a chest.
  4. brush Maya used a brush to paint the fence.
  5. lunch We ate our lunch under the big tree.
  6. thick The warm blanket was very thick.
  7. splash The kids made a big splash.
  8. crash The blocks fell with a loud crash.
  9. bench They sat on a wooden bench.
  10. shrink Hot water can make a jumper shrink.

Long a: a-e, ai and ay

  1. cave The bats lived in a dark cave.
  2. cake Mum baked a big cake.
  3. plate Zara put her rice on a plate.
  4. rain The rain fell all night.
  5. train Omar rode the train to the city.
  6. snail A tiny snail crawled up the wall.

Long e: ee and ea

  1. tree A bird sat in the tree.
  2. feet Noah washed the mud off his feet.
  3. sheep The farmer keeps ten sheep on the hill.
  4. seat Find an empty seat on the bus.
  5. stream Fish swam in the stream.

More than one: es, ies and ves

  1. foxes
  2. buses Three buses stopped outside the school.
  3. brushes Priya washed the paint brushes.
  4. glasses
  5. torches We took two torches on the night walk.
  6. babies The babies slept in their cots.
  7. ladies
  8. ponies Three ponies ran across the field.
  9. stories
  10. cities We drove through two big cities.
  11. leaves The leaves fell in the park.
  12. halves

Double the last letter before ed and ing

  1. swimming Zara is swimming in the pool.
  2. stopped The bus stopped at the corner.
  3. clapped
  4. grabbed
  5. jogging
  6. hugging Leila is hugging her little brother.
  7. planned
  8. beginning
  9. getting Omar is getting better at reading.
  10. tapping

Contractions with an apostrophe

  1. don't
  2. isn't
  3. didn't Jonah didn't finish his lunch.
  4. can't Leila can't reach the top shelf.
  5. we'll Mum said we'll leave at six.
  6. won't
  7. hasn't Hana hasn't packed her bag yet.
  8. wouldn't Yusuf wouldn't share his umbrella.

Questions parents ask

What spelling should a Year 3 child be able to do?

Stage 2 of the NSW English syllabus, which Year 3 follows, works on the long vowel teams, plurals with es, ies and ves, doubling a letter before ed and ing, and contractions with an apostrophe. The syllabus sets patterns, not a list of words, so schools choose their own words. The words on this page come from Learnest's own Stage 2 questions and show those patterns.

How does the practice work?

Pick a pattern, or ten mixed words, and press Start. The device reads a word aloud, then the sentence it comes from, and your child types the word and presses Check. A right answer gets a tick. A wrong one shows the right spelling with the letters that differ marked, and the pattern it follows. At the end you see the score and the words to practise, and can try those again or print them.

What if the device cannot read the words aloud?

Some browsers have no voice, and a tablet with the sound off says nothing. Then a grown-up reads the words from the list on this page: say the word, the sentence, then the word again, and let your child write it. The list is the answer sheet, and it prints on a few pages, with a sheet of lines for your child at the end.

Spelling by pattern, every English day.

Ten words can show a pattern that slips, not fix it. On English days Learnest sets spelling by pattern, names the slip under a wrong answer and brings the pattern back until it holds.

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Learnest is not affiliated with ACARA, NESA, the NSW Department of Education or the Australian Maths Trust. Every word and sentence on this page is Learnest's own, from the questions it sets. None comes from a school list or a past paper.