What Are Sight Words?

Some words appear over and over and over again in every book you read. These words are called sight words or high-frequency words. Learning to read them quickly — right when you see them — will help you read much faster!

Why We Learn Sight Words#

Some sight words are tricky to sound out. They do not always follow the regular phonics rules. For example, the word the — if you tried to sound it out, you might say /t/ + /h/ + /e/. But the word is just said as "thuh." It is easier to just remember it!

When you know sight words by memory, your brain dös not have to stop and sound them out. You just read them automatically, like a reflex. This helps you read more smoothly and understand stories better.

Common Sight Words#

Here are some of the most common sight words in English. Many of them are very short:

the, a, I, is, it, in, on, at, to, do, go, be, we, he, she, me, my, by, no, so, up, us, an, as, of, or, if

And some that are a little longer:

and, the, was, you, are, all, can, see, for, not, but, had, has, her, his, him, did, get, big, put, way, say, our, out, now

Sight Words in Sentences#

Look at this sentence: The cat sat on the mat.

The words the and on are sight words. They appear in almost every book! The words cat, sat, and mat are words you can sound out using phonics.

When you know your sight words AND your phonics, you can read almost anything!

How to Learn Sight Words#

The best way to learn sight words is to see them many, many times. Write them on cards. Read them every day. Look for them in books. The more you see a sight word, the faster your brain will remember it. You are building reading speed!