36 words · ages 7–8
2nd Grade spelling words with definitions
What should a 2nd grade child be able to spell?
By the end of 2nd grade (ages 7–8), most children can spell words like bird, running and hiking — that is, words built on ir, ar, or, ur and related patterns. Spelling develops at very different speeds, and a child a year either side of this is ordinary rather than behind.
- ir
- ar
- or
- ur
- er
- double + ing
- double + ed
- drop e + ing
- y to i + ed
- es plural
- y to i + es
- ed
- double + er
- y to i + est
- f to v + es
- y to i + er
Bossy R
The letter r bosses the vowel in front of it about.
- bird
- An animal with feathers that can fly.ir
- farm
- A place where food and animals are grown.ar
- storm
- Wild weather with wind and rain.or
- turn
- To go a different way.ur
- herd
- A big group of animals together.er
- sharp
- Able to cut, or coming to a fine point.ar
- first
- Before all the others.ir
- north
- The direction at the top of a map.or
- burst
- To break open suddenly.ur
- person
- One human being.er
- garden
- A patch of ground where plants grow.ar
- thirsty
- Needing a drink.ir
- shirt
- A piece of clothing for the top half of you.ir
- party
- A get-together with games, food and friends.ar
- corner
- The place where two sides meet.or
- nurse
- A person who looks after you when you are ill.ur
- winter
- The coldest season of the year.er
- morning
- The early part of the day.or
Adding On
Endings that change a word — and the letters that change with them.
- running
- Moving fast on your legs, right now.double + ing
- hopped
- Jumped on one foot, in the past.double + ed
- smiling
- Showing a happy face, right now.drop e + ing
- carried
- Held and moved something, in the past.y to i + ed
- boxes
- More than one box.es plural
- babies
- More than one baby.y to i + es
- wanted
- Wished for something, in the past.ed
- bigger
- Larger than something else.double + er
- happiest
- The most happy of all.y to i + est
- swimming
- Moving through water, right now.double + ing
- leaves
- More than one leaf.f to v + es
- shopped
- Bought things, in the past.double + ed
- making
- Building or creating something, right now.drop e + ing
- stopped
- Came to a halt, in the past.double + ed
- cried
- Had tears fall, in the past.y to i + ed
- wishes
- More than one wish.es plural
- funnier
- Making you laugh more than something else.y to i + er
- hiking
- Walking a long way outdoors, right now.drop e + ing
Practising 2nd grade spelling words at home
Read the word aloud and have your child write it from sound rather than copy it. The Friday test asks for the harder of those two, and only one of them is practice for it.
When a word goes wrong, say what the pattern is rather than just the letters — “that’s a ir word” gives them something to reuse. Then come back to it tomorrow rather than immediately.
Count a word as learned when it has been spelled correctly on three separate days. That is the rule SpellChirp uses, and it is roughly where a word stops needing to be looked up.
Turn this list into ten minutes a night
SpellChirp reads every word aloud, checks the spelling, and writes these 2nd grade words into an adventure story your child chooses — dragons, detectives, deep sea or a dozen more. Free, with no advertising and no account required to start.