Spelling words · 4th grade
4th grade Spelling Words
8 lists covering -tion, -le, irregular past tense and i-before-e. Every list plays as a game.
4th grade spelling word lists
| List | Words | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| -tion and -sion | action, station, nation, question, motion, vacation, mention, vision, television, decision, division, explosion | Most 'shun' endings are -tion. Use -sion after l, n or s, or when the base ends in d/de. |
| Consonant + -le | table, apple, little, middle, bottle, candle, puzzle, simple, gentle, purple, circle, bubble | Clap the beats: tab-le, ap-ple. The last beat is consonant + le. |
| Irregular past tense | thought, brought, caught, taught, bought, fought, drew, grew, threw, knew, wrote, froze | No -ed here. These change inside: think → thought. |
| Contractions | can't, won't, don't, didn't, isn't, wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't, I'm, you're, we'll, they've | The apostrophe sits exactly where the letters were taken out. |
| Double consonants in the middle | rabbit, happen, sudden, summer, dinner, letter, button, ribbon, carrot, pillow, lesson, tunnel | Short vowel in the first beat? Double the next consonant: rab-bit. |
| ie and ei | believe, field, chief, piece, friend, receive, ceiling, eight, weigh, neighbor, their, weird | i before e, except after c, or when it sounds like ay (neighbor). Then learn the rebels. |
| Tricky -ough and -augh | though, through, tough, rough, enough, cough, dough, daughter, laugh, taught, naughty, fought | Same letters, different sounds. Learn each one as a picture. |
| -ture and -ous | picture, nature, future, adventure, creature, mixture, famous, nervous, dangerous, enormous, jealous, furious | 'cher' at the end is usually -ture; 'us' at the end of a describing word is -ous. |
What 4th grade spelling covers
Fourth grade spelling is about multisyllable words. Clap the beats, spell each beat, and learn the common endings: -tion, -le, -ture, -ous. It's also the year to learn the irregular past tense words that don't take -ed.
How to learn 4th grade spelling words
Ad-ven-ture is three beats. Spell one beat at a time and long words stop being scary.
If you're unsure, -tion is the safe bet. Use -sion when the base word ends in d or de (decide → decision).
Rab-bit, hap-pen, din-ner: a short vowel in the first beat usually means a doubled consonant next.
Play the 4th grade spelling game
A spelling list sticks when kids pull each word out of memory again and again. The game does that sixty times in ten minutes, and nobody calls it homework.
Every word comes from the 4th grade lists
Free to play · no signup · works on phones, tablets and computers
Quick quiz: which spelling is right?
4th grade spelling FAQ
What age is 4th grade spelling for?
Ages 9–10, usually 4th grade (Year 5 in the UK).
How many spelling words should a 4th grader learn a week?
Usually 12 to 20 words, built around one or two patterns plus a few tricky words.
What are good 4th grade spelling bee words?
Start with the hardest list above (-ture and -ous), then move to the next grade's lists. Spelling bee success is mostly patterns plus the oddballs learned by heart.
Is the spelling game really free?
Yes. The whole game plays free in your browser, with no signup, no ads and no time limit. The Spellcove app is the paid version for iPhone and iPad. It adds every word read aloud, offline play and a parent progress view.
Take the cove with you
The Spellcove app has everything you can play here, plus the parts that need a real app: every word read aloud so kids can practice alone, offline play for car rides, a parent view of which words have stuck, and the full treasure collection.
Coming soon on theApp Store