When Two Vowels Go Walking: Word Lists and Rule-Breakers

When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking: 45 words follow the rule, 19 break it.

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List 1: ai follows the rule (complain)

Words to learn. Read each word, cover it, write it, then check it.

  1. 1.gainPuppies gain weight fast.
  2. 2.claimShow your ticket to claim your coat.
  3. 3.mermaidThe mermaid in the story had a green tail.
  4. 4.sailboatA sailboat drifted across the bay.
  5. 5.railroadThe railroad runs past our farm.
  6. 6.complainTry not to complain about the rain.
  7. 7.remainPlease remain in your seats.
  8. 8.obtainYou must obtain a library card first.
  9. 9.detainThe storm may detain our flight.
  10. 10.entertainA clown came to entertain the kids.
  11. 11.maintainOil helps maintain a bike chain.
  12. 12.sustainPlants need sun to sustain life.
  13. 13.retainSponges retain a lot of water.
  14. 14.acquaintLet me acquaint you with the class rules.
  15. 15.containerStore the cookies in a sealed container.
  16. 16.trainerThe trainer taught the dog to sit.
  17. 17.daintyShe took a dainty sip of tea.

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Each word is read aloud, then used in a sentence. Type what you hear. The marks come at the end.

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Accents do not count: café may be typed as cafe, and the marks show how it is written.

Only voices built into this device are used, so the words are not sent to a speech service to be read. With no voice, a person reads the words from the last page of the test sheet.

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Next step Every vowel team, from ai to awTest your own words the same way

All 64 words

List 1: ai follows the rule (complain) 17

  • acquaint Let me acquaint you with the class rules.
  • claim Show your ticket to claim your coat.
  • complain Try not to complain about the rain.
  • container Store the cookies in a sealed container.
  • dainty She took a dainty sip of tea.
  • detain The storm may detain our flight.
  • entertain A clown came to entertain the kids.
  • gain Puppies gain weight fast.
  • maintain Oil helps maintain a bike chain.
  • mermaid The mermaid in the story had a green tail.
  • obtain You must obtain a library card first.
  • railroad The railroad runs past our farm.
  • remain Please remain in your seats.
  • retain Sponges retain a lot of water.
  • sailboat A sailboat drifted across the bay.
  • sustain Plants need sun to sustain life.
  • trainer The trainer taught the dog to sit.
Show all 64 words (47 more)

List 2: oa and ee follow the rule (toaster) 18

  • beetle A shiny green beetle crawled on the leaf.
  • breezy It was a breezy day at the beach.
  • canteen Fill your canteen before the hike.
  • charcoal We cooked burgers over charcoal.
  • coaster Set your cup on a coaster.
  • cockroach A cockroach ran under the fridge.
  • fourteen Fourteen geese flew over the pond.
  • freedom Summer break means freedom from homework.
  • gloat Good winners do not gloat.
  • loam Loam is rich soil for a garden.
  • nineteen Nineteen kids came to the party.
  • oat Oat flakes make a warm breakfast.
  • overcoat He buttoned his heavy overcoat.
  • poach Poach the eggs in hot water.
  • roadside We bought corn at a roadside stand.
  • sheepish He gave a sheepish grin after tripping.
  • sixteen A chess player starts with sixteen pieces.
  • toaster Two slices popped out of the toaster.

List 3: ea, ie and ue follow the rule (leader) 10

  • beacon The lighthouse is a beacon for ships.
  • cleaner My room is cleaner than yesterday.
  • dealer The card dealer passed out five cards each.
  • dried We dried the dishes with a towel.
  • eager The puppy was eager to play.
  • heater Turn on the heater when it gets cold.
  • leader The line leader walks at the front.
  • pursue She wants to pursue a career in science.
  • reader A good reader looks for clues.
  • spied I spied a hawk in the tree.

List 4: rule-breakers (sweat) 19

  • against Lean the ladder against the wall.
  • broad The river is broad and slow here.
  • built We built a fort out of pillows.
  • captain The captain steered the ship.
  • certain Are you certain the door is locked?
  • curtain Open the curtain to let in light.
  • deaf Our neighbor is deaf and uses sign language.
  • dread I dread going to the dentist.
  • fountain Coins sparkled in the fountain.
  • health Sleep is good for your health.
  • hearth Logs were stacked beside the hearth.
  • leather His belt is made of brown leather.
  • meant I meant to call you back.
  • mountain Snow covered the top of the mountain.
  • plaid He wore a red plaid shirt.
  • swear Do you swear to tell the truth?
  • sweat Running makes me sweat.
  • tread My sneakers have worn tread on the bottom.
  • wealth The king had great wealth.

How this list was compiled: Words chosen, sorted into 4 lists and given sentences for this site. The sorting is ours. The rule the page is named for, when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking, is a classroom saying: in a vowel pair the first vowel says its name and the second is silent. Lists 1 to 3 hold words where it works; List 4 holds common words where it does not. No word here is on another spelling or phonics list of this site: the first ai, oa, ee and ea words (rain, boat, tree, eat and the rest) are on the vowel team, long e and grade lists already. SPELLINGS AND SOUNDS: the headword line of all 64 words was read on 2026-09-24 at https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q= plus the word (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language), which gives each vowel pair's sound, and each word's Wiktionary homophones line (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ plus the word). Left out on purpose: words that sound the same as another word (sail and sale, main and mane, vain and vein, faint and feint, loan and lone, moan and mown, due and dew, bruise and brews, saint in fast speech), and boastful, which is not a headword. Facts in sentences are plain dictionary facts: a chess set gives each player sixteen pieces, a lighthouse is a beacon, loam is rich soil. THE GRADE BAND stored with each word (1-2 for Lists 1 and 2, 2 for List 3, 2-3 for List 4) is our suggestion and no standard's. It was informed by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Reading: Foundational Skills 1.3c (common vowel teams for long vowel sounds) and 2.3b (spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams), which list no words (https://corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ELA_Standards1.pdf). SPELLINGS: every word is in the macOS word list. SENTENCES are ours and none repeats a sentence in another dataset of this site (checked 2026-09-24). Licence: own work

How it works

In the pairs ai, oa, ee, ea, ie and ue the first vowel says its name. Pick a list that follows the rule or breaks it, then print or test.

Read the full guide

Two vowels go a walking, list by list

List 1 is ai: complain, container, mermaid. List 2 is oa and ee: toaster, charcoal, freedom. List 3 is ea, ie and ue in two-syllable words: leader, spied, pursue. List 4 is the rule-breakers: sweat, broad, built, captain, mountain. Test List 4 on its own after the first three.

Three sheets and a spoken test

Word list prints the open list with a sentence under each word. Test sheet has numbered lines and a last page for the grown-up who reads aloud; ABC order and Missing letters come from the same words. Start test says each word, its sentence, then the word again.

  • Say the saying before List 4, then ask which word in the list breaks it and how.

Questions and answers

What does when two vowels go walking mean?

It is a classroom saying for vowel pairs: the first vowel says its own name and the second is silent. In toaster the o is long and the a is quiet.

Does the rule always work?

No. It works for most ai, oa and ee words, but ea, ie and ai break it often: sweat, dread, against, captain and mountain are in List 4. Teach it as a first guess, not a law.

Why are sail, main and loan left out?

Each sounds the same as another word: sale, mane and lone. The test reads a sentence with every word, but these lists skip such pairs so no answer is marked wrong.

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