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Year 4 Spellings
Active Spelling
These are the words we learn during each long term in our active spelling lessons, they are different to the words the children are sent home for our weekly spellings.
Autumn Term
Week 1 (double consonant) | Week 2 (adding ly) | Week 3 (ou) | Week 4 (ch making ‘k’ sound) | Week 5 (‘gue’) |
slammed grabbed suffered regretting wrapping bigger planner shopper forgotten | completely hurriedly wrongly correctly brightly sweetly softly swiftly strangely dearly | astound fountain account mountain amount announce armour bounce bound sound | chemist chemistry chorus mechanic scheme character stomach technology technical technique | intrigue prologue technique analogue monologue epilogue oblique synagogue brogue morgue |
Week 6 (y for ‘I’) | Week 7 (prefix inter) | Week 8 (prefix auto) | Week 9 (adding -ation to make them nouns) | Week 10 (-tion) |
rhyme rhythm syrup symptom symbol physics crystal physical system crypt | interact international interrelated interfere intercept interchange interconnect interrupt intersect intermission | autobiography autography automatic autopilot autoalarm automobile autonomy autocue autofocus autocracy | equation punctuation hesitation population relation relaxation civilisation evacuation fertilisation animation | invention mention hesitation completion communication presentation vibration decoration population distraction |
Spring Term
Week 1 (ture - sounding like 'ch') | Week 2 (adding ly when the root words end in 'le') | Week 3 (ou, ous) | Week 4 (ch - sh) | Week 5 (qu/gue) |
puncture sculpture structure torture vulture adventure departure agriculture moisture furniture | gently simply humbly nobly wriggly fiddly muscly prickly grizzly
| humorous poisonous tremendous glamourous courteous spontaneous ambitious dangerous enormous delicious | cliché crochet quiche chandelier moustache champagne ricochet chivalry chauffeur
| quality quantity quarry critique picturesque boutique antique squeeze cheque mosque |
Week 6 (y for i) | Week 7 (prefix sub) | Week 8 (prefix mis) | Week 9 (-sion) | Week 10 (possessive apostrophe) |
synchronise Olympic Olympian gymnast gymnastics abyss recycle python syllabic synthetic | subdivided subtract subheading submarine submerge submit subject subtotal subscribe subconscious | misbehave misspell mislead misread misuse mishear misplace misconduct miscalculate misinform | comprehension erosion incision corrosion explosion exclusion diversion conclusion conversion mansion | girls' boys' babies' brothers' cabbages' children's men's mice's cat's shark's |
Summer Term
Week 1 (-sure) | Week 2 (adding ly when the root words end in 'ic') | Week 3 (ou, ous) | Week 4 (ch - sh and K sounds) | Week 5 (sc) |
leisure pressure exposure treasure erasure fissure disclosure reinsure composure sureness | basically frantically dramatically logically magically scenically musically artistically energetically historically | carousel mountainous callous blusterous contagious announcer miscount devour discount scoundrel | scholar chlorine chameleon architect chasm charisma nonchalant chaperone cachet chivalry | disciple obscene scenario discipline fascinate crescent scenery scissors descend ascent |
Week 6 (y for i) | Week 7 (prefix anti) | Week 8 (prefix dis) | Week 9 (homophones) | Week 10 (-ssion) |
abysmal catalyst cygnet apocalypse synagogue cryptic alyssum lynch sycamore cataclysm | antiseptic anticlockwise antisocial antibiotic antibacterial antigravity antifreeze antiaircraft antiviral antidote | disappear disappoint disobey disagree disinfect dishonest distrust disallow disgrace | accept/except affect/effect groan/grown medal/meddle heel/heal/he'll peace/piece weather/whether whose/who's scene/seen rain/rein/reign | expression discussion confession permission admission compassion emission omission compression progression |
Common Exception Words for Year 4
Exception words are words in which the English spelling code works in an unusual or uncommon way. They are not words for which phonics 'doesn't work', but they may be exceptions to spelling rules, or words which use a particular combination of letters to represent sound patterns in a rare or unique way.
Exception words are also referred to as tricky words or sight words.
Some exception words are used very frequently, which is why children are introduced to them very early on in their phonics learning.
Here is the list of Year 3 & 4 100 words that the children learn when in Year 3 and 4 and are expected to be able to spell by end of the Year 4:
| accident(ally) | disappear | interest | pressure |
| actual(ly) | early | island | probably |
| address | earth | knowledge | promise |
| answer | eight/eighth | learn | purpose |
| appear | enough | length | quarter |
| arrive | exercise | library | question |
| believe | experience | material | recent |
| bicycle | experiment | medicine | regular |
| breath | extreme | mention | reign |
| breathe | famous | minute | remember |
| build | favourite | natural | sentence |
| busy/business | February | naughty | separate |
| calendar | forward(s) | notice | special |
| caught | fruit | occasion(ally) | straight |
| centre | grammar | often | strange |
| century | group | opposite | strength |
| certain | guard | ordinary | suppose |
| circle | guide | particular | surprise |
| complete | heard | peculiar | therefore |
| consider | heart | popular | thought |
| decide | history | position | through |
| describe | imagine | possess(ion) | various |
| different | increase | possible | weight |
| difficult | important | potatoes | woman/women |