say3 letters for 2 sounds: s, then a and y as a team saying long a, the name of the letter a. It sounds out once that team is taught. The y is the only letter of the three that drops below the bottom line.
Say sayCapital S beside small s: one curve in two sizes. The capital opens a direction, as in Say it with me.
say say say sayFour to trace in one row. S and a stay between the dashed line and the bottom line. The y is two slants: a short one down to the bottom line, then a long one that crosses it.
Show all 34 practice lines (31 more)
Spot-the-word rows 4
say saw say sad skyCircle say 2 times. Saw and sad start s-a and change the last letter. Sky keeps the s and the y and changes the middle. In saw the a-w says aw.
say says say said sayCircle say 3 times. Says and said are built on say, and both swap its long a for a short e, as Wiktionary's pronunciation lines show. Only the bare word sounds the way it is spelled.
say stay say day sayCircle say 3 times. Stay is say with a t slipped in after the s. Day swaps the s for a d. Both rhyme with it, so the ear cannot sort this row and the eye has to.
way say may say payCircle say 2 times. Way, may and pay change only the first letter and keep the a-y. Read the row aloud and all five words rhyme.
Missing-letter rows 3
s_y sa_ _ayFill in a, then y, then s. The gap moves from the middle to the end to the front, so each of the three letters gets written once.
say d__ pl__ st__Write a-y three times to make day, play and stay, then read all four words. The ending never changes. Only the front does.
say sa_ s__ ___Say loses one more letter each time, from the back: write y, then a-y, then the whole word from memory.
Phrases: directions and polite words 12
did not sayAfter did the word stays say. Take did away and the past moves onto the word itself: I did not say it, I said it.
have a sayTo have a say is to get a share in a choice, as in a class vote. Here say is a thing, not an action.
say cheeseWhat the person holding the camera calls out. Cheese starts with c-h and has a double e.
say itThe shortest direction a teacher gives. It sounds out: short i, then t.
say it againWhat to ask for when a word came out too quietly. Again does not sound out, so show it whole.
say it slowlyStretching a word so that every sound can be heard. Slowly is slow plus l-y.
say pleaseManners in two words. Please does not sound out letter by letter, so show it whole.
say sorryTwo words that end in y, and the two ys do different jobs. In say the y helps the a spell long a. In sorry the y says long e.
say thank youThree words for the inside of a thank-you card. Thank begins with t-h and ends with n-k.
say the soundsThe step before blending: say each sound, then slide them together. Sounds has the ou of out.
say the wordA direction for the top of a phonics page. A child who can read say can start that page alone.
say your nameTwo spellings of long a in one line: a-y at the end of say, and an a with a silent e in name.
Sentences to read and copy 12
Cows say moo.3 words. With many cows the word is say. With one cow it grows an s: a cow says moo. The double o in moo says oo.
Did she say stay?4 words. Say and stay stand side by side and differ by one t. Read aloud, the last two words rhyme.
How do you say it?5 words. What to ask about a new word, in any language. How has the ow of cow. You and do are words to show whole.
I can say my name.5 words. A sentence for the first week of school. Can sounds out, and my ends in a y that says long i.
I did not say that.5 words. Did not is followed by say, never by said. That sounds out once t-h is known.
I say hi. She says hi.6 words in two short sentences. With I the word is say. With she it grows an s, and its vowel changes to the short e of yes.
I say we play all day.6 words, and three of them end a-y: say, play and day. Have the child underline the a-y each time.
Please say yes.3 words. Yes sounds out, and its y sits at the front and makes the y sound. In say the y sits at the back and helps the a.
Say it with me.4 words. How a teacher starts a class reading in chorus. With ends in t-h, and it and me are quick to write.
Say the first sound.4 words. A phonics direction. For say itself the first sound is s, and the second sound is also the last.
What did you say?4 words. The sentence with the gap on the sheet. After did the word stays say. The answer switches to said: I said yes.
You may say it.4 words. May and say rhyme and end in the same two letters. Here may gives permission.
How this list was compiled: Every line was written for this site on 2026-09-20 and read aloud for sense. No line is taken from a published sight word list or workbook, and the page claims no list or grade level for the word. That say is said s plus long a in one syllable, that its forms are says, saying and said, and that have a say is a set phrase built on it: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/say (pronunciation, verb forms and derived terms, checked 2026-09-20). That the verb says is said with a short e (enPR sĕz), with the long a form marked dialectal: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/says (checked 2026-09-20). That said is said with the same short e (enPR sĕd), is say plus -ed, and has sayed listed as nonstandard: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/said (checked 2026-09-20). That day, way, may, pay, lay, hay, ray, bay, stay, play, tray, gray and clay rhyme with say, and that they, hey and weigh rhyme with it under other spellings: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English/e%C9%AA (one-syllable list, checked 2026-09-20). That saw is said with the aw sound and is the simple past of see: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saw (checked 2026-09-20). Where the pencil starts the small s, the small y and the capital S, and that the y has two strokes of which the second runs below the bottom line, was read from the tool's own stroke table for the Print letter style. Spellings were checked against the macOS system word list; plurals and verb forms that are not headwords there (cows, says, sounds) were checked one by one. The counts in the spot-the-word rows and the word counts of the sentences were worked out. Sound notes describe general American pronunciation. Licence: own work
How it works
Say is regular once a-y is taught. Its neighbors are the trouble: saw, stay, says and said. On this say sight word worksheet the child traces it, finds it among stay, day and saw, and finishes What did you ___?
Read the full guide
A-y says the name of the letter a
Say has three letters and two sounds: s, then a-y saying long a. Day, way, may, pay, play and stay end the same way and rhyme with it, so one taught ending opens them all. Two neighbors need the eye. Stay is say with a t inside, and the a-w of saw says aw. The find grid has both.
Say keeps its sound. Says and said do not.
Add an s or -ed and the long a turns into the short e of yes, as Wiktionary's entries for says and said show. A child who reads says to rhyme with days has followed the pattern, so name the two exceptions one at a time. After did the word stays plain: What did you say? is answered I said yes.
Tap say on two fingers, a tap for each sound, then point to three letters. A and y share one.
Lay the tiles s, a, y. Slide a paper t in after the s, read stay, then take it out.
Dictate I say we play all day. Three of its words end a-y. Have the child underline each ending.
Questions and answers
Is say a word to sound out or to memorize?
Sound it out. S, then a-y for long a, is the whole word. What the child has to learn is the a-y team, and day, may and way come with it.
Why does my student read says as sayz?
Because say plus s ought to sound that way, and in some dialects it does: Wiktionary marks that form dialectal. The usual sound has a short e. I say hi. She says hi. puts both forms on one line to read aloud.
How do I help a child tell say from saw?
Look at the last letter. The y ends in a tail that drops below the bottom line. The w is a zigzag that stays on it. The sounds differ too, long a against aw. The row say saw say sad sky asks for 2 circles.
Which words rhyme with say?
Day, way, may, pay, lay, hay, ray and bay change one letter. Stay, play, tray, gray and clay start with a blend. They, hey and weigh rhyme under other spellings. All are in Wiktionary's rhyme list, and way say may say pay uses three.