Dolch Sight Words (All 220, by Grade Level)

Quick answer

The Dolch sight words are a list of 220 high-frequency words (plus 95 nouns) compiled by Edward Dolch, making up a large share of the words in children's books. They are organized into five levels by grade: pre-primer (40), primer (52), first grade (41), second grade (46), and third grade (41). A child learns them roughly in that order, from Pre-K through third grade. Below is the complete list, grouped by level.

Kindergarten Sight Words

All 52 Dolch primer sight words every kindergartner learns to read on sight, with a simple example sentence and pronunciation for each. Native-audio flashcards with spaced repetition — buy once, no subscription.

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Pre-primer (Pre-K) - 40 words

Sight Words	Pronunciation	Meaning
a	uh	I see a dog.
and	and	Mom and I play.
away	uh-way	The dog ran away.
big	big	I see a big dog.
blue	bloo	The ball is blue.
can	kan	I can jump.
come	kum	Come and play with me.
down	down	I sit down.
find	fynd	I can find my cat.
for	for	This is for you.
funny	fun-ee	The dog is funny.
go	goh	We go to play.
help	help	I help my mom.
here	heer	Come here to me.
I	eye	I can jump.
in	in	The dog is in.
is	iz	The ball is red.
it	it	I see it.
jump	jump	I can jump up.
little	lit-ul	I see a little cat.
look	look	Look at my dog.
make	mayk	I make a big cake.
me	mee	Come to me.
my	my	My cat is big.
not	not	It is not big.
one	wun	I see one dog.
play	play	We play with a ball.
red	red	The ball is red.
run	run	I can run.
said	sed	Mom said to me.
see	see	I see a dog.
the	thuh	The cat is big.
three	three	I see three cats.
to	too	I go to play.
two	too	I see two dogs.
up	up	I look up.
we	wee	We can play.
where	wair	Where is my dog?
yellow	yel-oh	The sun is yellow.
you	yoo	I see you.

Primer (kindergarten) - 52 words

Sight Words	Pronunciation	Meaning
all	awl	We ate all the cake.
am	am	I am a big kid.
are	ar	We are so happy.
at	at	The cat is at home.
ate	ayt	I ate the cake.
be	bee	Be good to the dog.
black	blak	I have a black cat.
brown	brown	The dog is brown.
but	but	I like cake but not bugs.
came	kaym	Mom came home.
did	did	Did you see the cat?
do	doo	Do you like cake?
eat	eet	We eat cake now.
four	for	I have four cats.
get	get	I get the ball.
good	gud	You are a good dog.
have	hav	I have a red ball.
he	hee	He is my dad.
into	in-too	The cat ran into the box.
like	lyke	I like my dog.
must	must	We must go now.
new	noo	I have a new ball.
no	noh	I have no cake.
now	now	We play now.
on	on	The cat is on the bed.
our	ow-er	This is our dog.
out	owt	The dog ran out.
please	pleez	Please give me cake.
pretty	prit-ee	The cat is pretty.
ran	ran	The dog ran fast.
ride	ryde	I ride my bike.
saw	saw	I saw a big dog.
say	say	Say hi to mom.
she	shee	She is my mom.
so	soh	I am so happy.
soon	soon	Mom will be home soon.
that	that	That is my dog.
there	thair	The ball is there.
they	thay	They are my cats.
this	this	This is my cake.
too	too	I want cake too.
under	un-der	The cat is under the bed.
want	wont	I want the ball.
was	wuz	The day was fun.
well	wel	I feel well today.
went	went	We went to the park.
what	wut	What is that?
white	wyte	I have a white cat.
who	hoo	Who is that?
will	wil	I will play soon.
with	with	I play with my dog.
yes	yes	Yes, I want cake.

First grade - 41 words

Sight Words	Pronunciation	Meaning
after	af-ter	We play after school.
again	uh-gen	Let us play again.
an	an	I ate an egg.
any	en-ee	Do you have any cats?
as	az	He is as tall as me.
ask	ask	Ask your mom for help.
by	bye	Sit by the window.
could	kood	I could run very fast.
every	ev-ree	Every dog can run.
fly	fly	Birds fly in the sky.
from	frum	I am from a big town.
give	giv	Give the ball to him.
going	goh-ing	We are going to school.
had	had	I had a red ball.
has	haz	He has a big dog.
her	hur	This is her book.
him	him	Give the ball to him.
his	hiz	This is his hat.
how	how	How do you fly a kite?
just	just	I just want one.
know	noh	I know my name.
let	let	Let me help you.
live	liv	We live in a house.
may	may	May I go now?
of	uv	I want a cup of milk.
old	ohld	My dog is old.
once	wunss	I saw it once.
open	oh-pen	Open the door for her.
over	oh-ver	The bird flew over us.
put	poot	Put the book on the desk.
round	rownd	The ball is round.
some	sum	I want some milk.
stop	stop	Stop at the red light.
take	tayk	Take your book to school.
thank	thangk	Thank you for the gift.
them	them	Give the books to them.
then	then	We ate, then we played.
think	thingk	I think it may rain.
walk	wawk	We walk to school.
were	wur	We were at the park.
when	wen	When do we go home?

Second grade - 46 words

Sight Words	Pronunciation	Meaning
always	AWL-ways	We always eat lunch at noon.
around	uh-ROWND	We walked around the big park.
because	bee-KUZ	I am happy because we play.
been	bin	I have been to the zoo.
before	bee-FOR	Wash your hands before you eat.
best	best	This is my best drawing yet.
both	bohth	Both dogs like to run.
buy	by	We buy milk at the store.
call	kawl	Please call me after school.
cold	kohld	The cold water felt nice.
does	duz	She does her homework early.
don't	dohnt	Please don't touch the hot stove.
fast	fast	The car goes very fast.
first	furst	She was first in line.
five	fyv	I have five red apples.
found	fownd	I found my lost shoe.
gave	gayv	Mom gave me a hug.
goes	gohz	She goes to school by bus.
green	green	The frog is bright green.
its	its	The dog wagged its tail.
made	mayd	We made a sandcastle today.
many	MEN-ee	There are many stars tonight.
off	awf	Please turn off the light.
or	or	Do you want milk or juice?
pull	puul (rhymes with full)	Pull the wagon up the hill.
read	reed (or red)	I like to read books.
right	ryt	You got the right answer.
sing	sing	We sing songs at school.
sit	sit	Please sit on the chair.
sleep	sleep	I sleep in my own bed.
tell	tel	Tell me about your day.
their	thair	The kids lost their ball.
these	theez	These apples are very sweet.
those	thohz	Those birds are up high.
upon	uh-PON	The cat sat upon the wall.
us	us	Come and play with us.
use	yooz	I use a spoon to eat.
very	VAIR-ee	The soup is very hot.
wash	wawsh	Wash your hands before eating.
which	wich	Which shirt do you like?
why	wy	Why is the sky blue?
wish	wish	I wish for a puppy.
work	wurk	We work hard in class.
would	wood	I would like some water.
write	ryt (sounds like right)	I write my name neatly.
your	yor	Is this your red hat?

Third grade - 41 words

Sight Words	Pronunciation	Meaning
about	uh-bowt	We read a book about frogs.
better	bet-er	This crayon is better than that one.
bring	bring	Please bring your lunch to school.
carry	kair-ee	I can carry the big box.
clean	kleen	We keep our room nice and clean.
cut	kut	We cut the paper with scissors.
done	dun	My homework is all done now.
draw	draw	I like to draw a big sun.
drink	drink	I drink a glass of milk.
eight	ayt	I have eight red apples.
fall	fawl	Leaves fall from the tall tree.
far	far	The store is very far away.
full	fool	My cup is full of juice.
got	got	I got a new bike today.
grow	groh	Plants grow tall in the sun.
hold	hohld	Please hold my hand to cross.
hot	hot	The soup is too hot to eat.
hurt	hurt	I hurt my knee at recess.
if	if	We can play if it stops raining.
keep	keep	You can keep the shiny rock.
kind	kynd	She is kind to her friends.
laugh	laf	We laugh at the funny clown.
light	lyt	The sun gives us bright light.
long	lawng	The green snake is very long.
much	much	I do not have much time.
myself	my-self	I can tie my shoes myself.
never	nev-er	I never eat green peppers.
only	ohn-lee	I have only one blue crayon.
own	ohn	I have my own red bike.
pick	pik	Please pick a book to read.
seven	sev-en	There are seven days in a week.
shall	shal	Shall we go to the park?
show	shoh	Can you show me your drawing?
six	siks	I have six green marbles.
small	smawl	The tiny mouse is very small.
start	start	Let's start the game now.
ten	ten	I have ten fingers to count.
today	tuh-day	We have art class today.
together	tuh-geth-er	We play together at recess.
try	try	I will try to ride my bike.
warm	worm	The soup is nice and warm.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Dolch sight words?

They are a set of 220 high-frequency service words (plus 95 common nouns) identified by Edward William Dolch in the 1930s and 1940s. Because they appear so often in early reading, learning them by sight helps children read more fluently.

What is the difference between Dolch and Fry sight words?

Dolch is a 220-word list grouped by grade (pre-primer to third grade), based on words in children's books. Fry is a larger, more modern list of 1,000 words ordered by frequency across all reading. The lists overlap heavily; schools use one or the other, and Dolch is the most common for early grades.

How long does it take to learn all 220 Dolch words?

Spread across grades, most children learn them over Pre-K through third grade, one level per year. With regular short practice and spaced repetition, a single level of 40 to 52 words is often mastered in a few weeks.

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