Merna and Dexter’s kitchen mixer roars “errrrr” in this post’s story, and that funny kitchen noise is exactly the sound behind er sound jolly phonics practice at home. /er/ is the fifth sound in Jolly Phonics Group 7, tucked between qu, ou, oi, and ue on one side and the final ar sound on the other.
Children usually meet it around age five to five and a half, right as they’re getting comfortable with Group 7’s mix of vowel teams and sounds that end in r.
The Mixer Story for /er/
Merna and Dexter were helping their mother bake a chocolate cake. When she switched on the mixer, it rumbled “errrr… errrr…” so loudly that both kids burst out laughing. Their mother laughed too and let them take turns holding the bowl steady while the mixer kept up its funny er, er, er sound until the batter was smooth.
How to Say the /er/ Sound
/er/ is a relaxed, central vowel — the sound in her, fern, and bird. Open your mouth just slightly, rest your tongue in the middle of your mouth, and keep your voice on throughout. In accents that pronounce the r, the vowel comes out r-coloured; in others it’s simply one smooth, relaxed sound.
The Jolly Phonics action rolls your hands over each other like a food mixer while you say “er, er, er” — perfect for reusing the story above as a cue. Turn it into a two-line song: “Roll your hands like the mixer’s turning, er, er, er, watch it churning.” For the full method behind every action, see our guide on how to teach Jolly Phonics step by step.
Hear the /er/ Sound
Play the clip once through, then pause after each cue and repeat the mouth position together.
Don’t Mix Up /er/ with /ar/ or /or/
/er/, /ar/, and /or/ all involve an r after the vowel, so young ears often blur them. Compare fur and far: /er/ keeps the tongue relaxed in the middle, while /ar/ pulls it low and back. Compare bird and board: /er/ is short and central, while /or/ rounds the lips and holds a little longer.
Three Ways to Spell /er/
Unlike some sounds, /er/ has three common spellings your child will meet early on:
- er — her, fern, letter
- ir — bird, girl, shirt
- ur — turn, curl, nurse
/er/’s Place in the Jolly Phonics Order
/er/ sits between the /ow/ sound before it and the /ar/ sound right after — the very last of the 42. See the full run-down in our Jolly Phonics complete guide.
er Words to Practice: Middle and End
Because er, ir, and ur all make the same sound, real word lists naturally mix spellings. There’s no everyday word that opens with this relaxed vowel, so skip straight to the middle and the end.
Middle: fern, bird, girl, shirt, turn, nurse, curl, herd
End: her, sir, stir, fur, blur, purr
Blending practice: h-er → her, s-t-ir → stir, f-ur → fur, t-ur-n → turn, g-ir-l → girl, b-ir-d → bird
Watch out for: here (says a different vowel, like “hear,” not the /er/ in her) and very (the letters er just say a short e followed by r, not the stretched /er/).
Four Quick /er/ Activities to Try Today
- Mixer action replay (2 minutes): Redo the rolling-hands action and cue song three times, getting a little louder each round like the mixer speeding up.
- er/ar/or sorting game (3 minutes): Say word pairs like fur/far and bird/board and have your child say which sound they hear, or point to their ear for er.
- Spelling sort (3 minutes): Write er, ir, and ur on three cards and ask your child to sort picture cards for fern, bird, and nurse under the matching spelling.
- Build-a-word (5 minutes): Using letter cards for k, i, n, d, and er, see how quickly your child can build the word kinder.
Free /er/ Worksheet and Flashcard Blending
Here’s the digraph “er” tracing worksheet, ready to print:
For more blending practice, use our phase 2 and phase 3 flashcards, including the full Phase 3 word list below.
Lay out the k, i, n, d, and er cards and challenge your child to build kinder. Comparing kind and kinder is also a nice moment to talk about how adding -er changes a word’s meaning.
Finish with a quick dictation: say her, bird, nurse, turn, and fern one at a time for your child to write, then compare spellings together. If they mix up ar, er, and or as they write, our phonemes and graphemes guide can help explain why.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the er sound in Jolly Phonics?
It’s the fifth sound in Group 7, a relaxed central vowel heard in her, fern, and bird, taught with an action that rolls the hands over each other like a food mixer.
What are the three spellings of the er sound?
The three common spellings are er, as in her and fern; ir, as in bird and girl; and ur, as in turn and nurse.
How is the er sound different from the ar sound?
/er/ keeps the tongue relaxed in the middle of the mouth, as in fur, while /ar/ pulls the tongue low and back, as in far. Comparing the two pairs side by side helps children hear the difference.
Why doesn’t “very” rhyme with “her”?
In “very,” the letters er simply say a short e followed by r, not the stretched, relaxed /er/ vowel taught here, which is why it doesn’t rhyme with her or fern.
