Schwa Sound Words: Schwa Words List With Pictures + PDF

The schwa sound is the lazy “uh” a vowel makes in a quiet part of a word, like the first and last a in banana. It’s the most common vowel sound in spoken English. In one count of everyday American talk, that works out to about 1 in 5 vowel sounds (Mines, Hanson and Shoup, 1978).

A young child can say these schwa words and picture them. We checked all the schwa sound words against a dictionary, and we label the ones that change with the speaker.

ba·nan·a, so·fa, piz·za, ze·bra, pan·da, lem·on, wag·on, ba·con, pen·cil, cac·tus, cam·el, bal·loon, a·bout, a·way

Parents, tutors and teachers can print them. You’ll find them in our free schwa words PDF: 3 pages, free, no signup, no email.

Jump to: schwa words list · start, middle or end · explain it to a child · free PDF

Page 1 of the free PDF: 20 schwa words with pictures.

What is the schwa sound?

In phonics, schwa is the third sound a vowel can make. That third sound is a quick, lazy “uh”. Any vowel letter can make it. You’ll hear it in the quiet part of a word (the part you don’t stress): buh-NAN-uh, LEM-uhn, uh-BOUT. Our short vs long vowels post covers the first two sounds.

When our phonics lists call a vowel lazy, most of the time that vowel is the schwa. In a few words (napkin, goblin) the lazy vowel is a quick i instead.

Short u is the strong “uh” in cup and sun, said in the loud part of a word. Schwa is the quick, weak “uh” in a quiet part, and any vowel can make it. You’ll find the strong one on its own page: short u words.

Good schwa examples are banana, sofa, lemon, pencil, cactus. Dictionaries write it as an upside-down e (ə). Kids can skip the symbol.

Many phonics programs name it in 2nd grade, and some wait until 3rd. Kids often start reading schwa words in late 1st grade. Kindergartners meet it earlier in a, the and was.

Schwa words list by letter

Every vowel can say schwa. In this schwa sound word list, the lazy letter is in bold.

a: ba·nan·a, so·fa, piz·za, ze·bra, pan·da, bal·loon, a·bout, a·way, sal·ad, gi·ant, pa·ja·mas, ca·noe
e: sev·en, o·pen, ov·en, chick·en, chil·dren, prob·lem, cam·el, ba·gel, el·e·phant, tel·e·phone
i: pen·cil, pu·pil
o: lem·on, wag·on, drag·on, ba·con, mel·on, li·on, pi·lot, car·rot, oc·to·pus, di·no·saur, po·ta·to, to·ma·to
u: cac·tus, wal·rus, cir·cus, pos·sum, mi·nus, u·pon, am·bu·lance, hip·po·pot·a·mus
y: can spell schwa, but not in words a young child reads.

The letter i makes a clean “uh” in only a few words a child reads. Most lazy i’s sound more like a quick i: see borderline words.

In oven, only the e is lazy. The o is a strong “uh”. In pencil and at the start of circus, the c says /s/ (soft c and soft g).

Schwa sound words: start, middle or end

Where the lazy “uh” sits helps kids find it. It isn’t always at the start. Sofa ends with one, and banana has one at each end.

At the start: a·bout, a·way, a·go, a·long, a·lone, a·sleep, bal·loon, ca·noe, pa·ja·mas, po·ta·to, to·ma·to, po·lice
At the end (the letter a): so·fa, piz·za, pan·da, ze·bra, so·da, tu·ba, yo·ga, pas·ta, ko·a·la, ex·tra
In the last part: lem·on, wag·on, drag·on, ba·con, mel·on, li·on, sev·en, chick·en, o·pen, cam·el, ba·gel, pen·cil, cac·tus, wal·rus, cir·cus, sal·ad, gi·ant, pi·lot, car·rot
In the middle: oc·to·pus, di·no·saur, as·tro·naut, tel·e·phone, en·ve·lope, al·pha·bet, vi·o·lin, av·o·ca·do

The a in about and away is a classic trap. It looks long, but it says “uh” (long a words). Start with the end-of-word a. Kids hear that one first.

Words with two or three schwas

ba·nan·a, pa·ja·mas, el·e·phant, am·bu·lance, va·nil·la, hip·po·pot·a·mus

Banana has two. Hippopotamus has three.

Borderline words

These words do have a lazy vowel, but it doesn’t always say a clean “uh”. They’re fine to read. Skip them as first examples.

Sometimes it sounds like a quick i

rab·bit, bas·ket, muf·fin, dol·phin, rob·in, cab·in, rock·et, hel·met, mag·net, plan·et, an·i·mal, pel·i·can

You’ll hear the lazy vowel as “uh” or a quick “i”, depending on who’s talking. Both are right. Our closed syllable list marks most of these as lazy too.

Sometimes the vowel almost disappears

kit·ten, mit·ten, but·ton, kitch·en, gar·den, fro·zen, tun·nel, pret·zel

Many people say “kit-n” and “but-n” with no vowel at all. They’re fine to read. Skip them as first examples.

Words that are not schwa words

You’ll see these on many schwa lists online. Here’s why they don’t belong:

A strong “uh”, not a lazy one: other, mother, love, come. The o says short u in the loud part of the word. See our short u traps.
Bossy r, not schwa: teacher, doctor, sister, water. In American English the -er and -or have an r sound. See bossy r words.
No lazy vowel at all: robot (ROH-bot). Both vowels keep a full sound.
The lazy vowel often drops out: family (FAM-lee), chocolate, camera. Real schwa words for some speakers, but poor examples.
-le endings: apple, little, purple. That’s a separate pattern.

Little words that say “uh” (kindergarten)

These aren’t words for a schwa words list. They only go lazy in a sentence. But your kindergartner already hears schwa every day, inside the tiny words that hold a sentence together.

a: “ay” on its own, “uh” in a sentence (a cat)
the: “thuh” before most words (the dog), “thee” before a vowel (the egg)
was: “wuhz” in a sentence (Dad was home)
of: “uhv” (a cup of milk)
from: “fruhm” (a note from Dad)
to: “tuh” in go to bed

Say was by itself and you hear a short u, which is how our heart words list marks it. In a quick sentence (it was fun) it gets even lazier. That quick, relaxed sound is schwa.

Skip the name for now. Read these words the way you talk, in a sentence, not one at a time. More on them in heart words and our kindergarten sight words list.

How to explain schwa to a child

Keep it short. Use this script:

Some vowels get lazy in the quiet part of a word. They stop saying their own sound and just say “uh”. Listen: buh-NAN-uh. The first a and the last a are lazy. That lazy sound has a name: schwa.

Then do three things together:

Clap the parts. ba-nan-a is three claps.
Find the loud one. Say the word and listen for the part that pops. In banana it’s NAN.
Point to the lazy letter. Ask: “Which vowels just say ‘uh’?” Let your child find them.

Run it again with sofa and lemon. For a kindergartner, skip the name if you like and just say “lazy”. Wait on the word schwa until the idea makes sense.

How to read schwa words: flex the vowel

A child who sounds out lemon part by part may say “lem-on” (o as in on) and get stuck. That’s normal. Here’s the fix to teach.

At the table:

Read each part with its usual vowel (“lem-on”).
If it isn’t a word you know, flex the quiet vowel to “uh” (“lem-uhn”).
Still stuck? Try it short, try it long, then try “uh”.
Ask: “Is that a word you know?”

Researchers call this skill “set for variability”. It means turning a close try into a real word you know. In one study, children who were better at it also read irregular words better (Steacy et al., 2019).

Not sure which part is loud? Play “Call the Dog” from Reading Universe. Call the word like you’re calling a dog: LEEEM-on! The part you shout and stretch is the loud part, and the schwa hides in the quiet part.

Spelling schwa words comes later and takes years. A “spelling voice” helps. Say it the silly way, “lem-ON”, so you hear the o.

One more “uh” to watch: grown-ups add an extra “uh” to consonants (buh, cuh). That extra “uh” is a schwa too, and it’s the one to leave off when blending sounds.

UFLI Foundations has no lesson called schwa; two-syllable reading starts in its Reading Longer Words lessons (63-68), where lazy vowels first show up.

Schwa activities at home (5-10 minutes)

Pick one or two.

Clap and find. Clap a word, then find the quiet part.
Loud or quiet “uh”? Say sun, then sofa. Is the “uh” in the loud part or a quiet part?
Start or end sort. Cut out the 10 picture cards on page 3. Say each word, then sort it: lazy at the start (po·lice) or at the very end (tu·ba).
Lazy-vowel hunt. Find three schwa words in a picture book.
Build it. Make lemon with letter tiles, then read it with “uh”.
Spelling voice. Say it the silly way (“lem-ON”), then write it.

Stop while it’s still fun.

Sentences to read aloud

Read them the way you talk. Words like a and the go lazy too.

The panda sat on the sofa.
A zebra ate a banana.
Dad got a lemon and a melon.
The camel is in the wagon.
Seven balloons went up.
Mom had pizza and a salad.

After you read one, ask your child to find a lazy vowel.

Free schwa words PDF

Page 1: a picture poster of 20 schwa words, from banana to hippopotamus, in four rows (end, start, last part, middle), with the lazy letters in color.
Page 2: the full schwa word list by letter, the quick i and almost-disappears words (no color: close calls), the little words that say “uh” and a not-schwa strip.
Page 3: a 10-card picture sort (lazy at the start or at the very end), a loud or quiet “uh” strip, the six sentences and an answer key.

Page 3 of the free PDF.

Page 3 works as a free printable schwa worksheet. Cut out the cards, sort them, then read the sentences. Download the free schwa words PDF. No signup, no email. More in our printables library.

Questions parents ask

Is banana a schwa word? Yes, twice. Say it: buh-NAN-uh. The first and last a are lazy; only the middle a sounds like the a in cat.

How do you explain schwa to a child? Say, “Some vowels get lazy in the quiet part of a word and just say ‘uh’.” Then say buh-NAN-uh, point to the two lazy a’s, and tell them that sound is called schwa.

What is an example of a schwa? Sofa, lemon, pencil and cactus: one each for a, o, i and u. For e, try seven.

Why do they call it a schwa? The name comes from Hebrew. Shva is a mark for a very short or missing vowel, and the word reached English by way of German.

Can you give me a list of schwa words? Here are 20 words with schwa sounds, the ones on our picture poster: banana, pizza, zebra, panda, sofa, balloon, canoe, pajamas, potato, tomato, lemon, bacon, lion, pencil, cactus, octopus, dinosaur, astronaut, elephant, hippopotamus. More schwa sound words are in the list by letter.

Is pizza a schwa word? Yes. The a at the end says “uh” (PEET-suh; the zz says /ts/).

What is the schwa rule for kids? There isn’t one rule for schwa words that tells you where schwa goes. It hides in the quiet part of a word, often a first a (about) or a last a (sofa), or before n, l or s at the end (lemon, camel, cactus). Try the usual sound first, then “uh”.

How to know if a word has a schwa sound? Say it the way you talk, clap the parts, find the loud one. A vowel in a quiet part that says “uh” is a schwa.

Our reading games read stories aloud and highlight each word, no ads, offline. Next: closed syllables for splitting longer words, or how kids learn to read for the big picture.

Lesson numbers are cited for reference only. This post and its PDF are our own original work, not created by nor endorsed by UFLI or the University of Florida.