Year 3 and 4 Word List organised from the 2014 National Curriculum Appendix 1
Some words will appear more than once, as they belong to more than one family or spelling pattern.
Words in bold are included in the statutory NC list. Others may be taught alongside these.
ough
although
though
thought
through
cough
rough
bought
brought
er
answer
certain
consider
quarter
remember
deliver
offer
jumper
slumber
ear
early
earth
heard
learn
pearl
ir
circle
firm
Sir
twirl
whirl
-ar
calendar
grammar
particular
peculiar
popular
regular
tetragraphs
eight
eighth
caught
height
naughty
straight
neighbour
-al
actual
material
special
cordial
social
-ous
famous
various
courageous
courteous
curious
enormous
hideous
glamorous
hideous
tremendous
vigorous
-sion
occasion
confusion
collision
decision
division
invasion
television
-tion
mention
position
question
completion
hesitation
injection
invention
-ssion
possession
admission
confession
discussion
expression
mission
passion
session
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-ly
accidentally
actually
early
occasionally
probably
angrily
basically
completely
dramatically
frantically
gently
happily
humbly
nobly
usually
-ary
February
library
ordinary
dictionary
January
‘silent’ letters
answer
island
guard
guide
knowledge
reign
gnaw
gnarled
knight
knot
wrap
wrinkled
syllables
ac/ci/dent
ac/tu/al
a/ddress
a/ppear
bi/cy/cle
bu/si/ness
ca/len/dar
cen/tu/ry
cer/tain
cir/cle
con/si/der
con/tin/ue
di/ffer/ent
di/ffi/cult
dis/a/ppear
ex/er/cise
ex/per/i/ence
ex/per/i/ment
fa/vour/ite
Fe/bru/a/ry
for/ward
gra/mmar
his/tor/y
im/a/gine
im/por/tant
in/ter/est
li/bra/ry
ma/ter/i/al
me/di/cine
min/ute
na/tur/al
o/cca/sion
o/ppo/site
or/di/na/ry
par/ti/cu/lar
pe/cu/li/ar
per/haps
po/pu/lar
po/si/tion
po/sse/ssion
po/ssi/ble
pre/ssure
pro/bab/ly
pro/mise
pur/pose
re/gu/lar
re/mem/ber
sen/tence
se/pa/rate
var/i/ous
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Soft ‘c’
bicycle
centre
century
certain
circle
decide
exercise
medicine
notice
recent
sentence
Double consonants
accident
address
appear
arrive
business
different
difficult
disappear
grammar
occasion
opposite
possess
possible
pressure
suppose
Roots and Affixes
accident
accidental
appear
appeared
disappear
disappearing
busy
business
centre
central
certain
certainty
circle
circular
circling
complete
completion
consider
considering
consideration
considerate
considerable
continue
continuation
continuance
decide
decision
decisive
disappear
disappearance
early
earlier
earth
earthly
eight
eighth
eighty
experiment
experimental
extreme
extremely
favourite
favouritism
fruit
fruity
fruitiness
grammar
grammatical
guard
guarding
hear
heard
hearing
heart
hearty
history
historical
imagine
imagination
increase
increasing
important
importance
interest
interesting
knowledge
knowledgeable
learn
learned
library
librarian
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medicine
medication
medicinal
natural
naturally
naughty
naughtiness
notice
noticeable
occasion
occasionally
opposite
opposition
particular
particularly
peculiar
peculiarity
possess
possession
potato
potatoes
pressure
pressurisation
promise
promising
purpose
purposeful
quarter
quarterly
question
questionable
recent
recently
regular
regularly
regularity
remember
remembrance
separate
separation
separable
inseparable
straight
straightening
strange
strangeness
suppose
supposition
surprise
surprising
thought
thoughtfulness
various
variety
weight
weightless
woman
womanly
miscellaneous
breath
breathe
believe
relieve
relief
length (long)
strength (strong)
special
artificial
group
soup
e-e
complete
extreme
scheme
Homographs
minute/minute
read/read
fly/fly
lead/lead
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Some words on the Year 3 and 4 Word List have unusual spellings which are not found in other
words on the list, such as ‘believe’. It is better to teach these alongside other words which have a
similar sound or spelling pattern, even though these words are not included in the list. If there is
simply no other word like it, then it goes into the ‘Unique Spelling Chest’, which you can create in
your classroom.
There are many different strategies to help children learn to spell words. Sometimes the
morphology of the word will help. That is, breaking the word up into its constituent parts and
looking carefully at the meaning of each part, e.g. the root, prefix or suffix. How does the addition
of the affix change the meaning of the word?
In other words, simply pronouncing each separate syllable in an obvious and unnatural way, can
help – even if that is not how the whole word should be pronounced, e.g. Wed/nes/day.
Mnemonics can help too, such as funny rhymes or sayings which help the child to remember the
letters. The longer the words become, the less realistic this approach can be.
Children’s visual memory will be enhanced by the visual display of plenty of words around their
environment too, especially those high frequency words which help children to become fluent,
confident writers.
Sometimes analogy works well. Dissect words, like a scientist. See how they are made up. Count
their phonemes, or syllables. Look for affixes. Segment and blend the word if you can.
Above all, encourage children to be fascinated with words, rather than fearful of them. Play Word
Detectives to help children become more analytical about how words are put together. Also play
plenty of word games, and make your spelling lessons as engaging and multi-sensory as possible.
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