Which statement about irregular words is true?

Which statement about irregular words is true?

• A. Only 4% of words in English are truly irregular
• B. Most irregular words are actually easy to decode
• C. Irregular words can always be sounded out using rules
• D. Irregular words are never common

Answer: (A)

Irregular words are those that don’t follow the usual spelling-to-sound patterns. In English, most words do follow those patterns, so only a small fraction truly don’t. That fraction is commonly cited as about four percent of frequently used words, which makes this statement the best fit. Because these words don’t conform to the rules, they can’t be reliably decoded just by applying standard rules; you often need to memorize them as sight words. The other options miss this point: irregular words aren’t typically easy to decode using rules, they can’t always be sounded out by rules, and some irregular words are indeed common in everyday language.

Irregular words are those that don’t follow the usual spelling-to-sound patterns. In English, most words do follow those patterns, so only a small fraction truly don’t. That fraction is commonly cited as about four percent of frequently used words, which makes this statement the best fit. Because these words don’t conform to the rules, they can’t be reliably decoded just by applying standard rules; you often need to memorize them as sight words. The other options miss this point: irregular words aren’t typically easy to decode using rules, they can’t always be sounded out by rules, and some irregular words are indeed common in everyday language.