Alien words: what they are and how to practise them
Last reviewed 29 September 2026 · 5 minute read
Alien words are made-up words like “vap”, “shog” or “blorn”. They look strange, but they are one of the best ways to see whether a child can really read with phonics. This guide explains what they are, why the Phonics Screening Check uses them, and how to practise them at home without any fuss.
What alien words are
An alien word is a word that follows the rules of English spelling but has no meaning. Teachers call them pseudo-words or nonsense words. In school, and in the Phonics Screening Check, they appear next to a picture of an alien. The picture tells your child that this is an alien’s name, so it will not sound like a word they know. That is the whole point.
Why the check uses them
When your child reads a real word, they might know it already by sight. They might guess it from a picture or from the first letter. With an alien word, none of that works. The only way to read “zint” is to look at each letter, say each sound and blend them together. So alien words show whether your child can decode: turn letters into sounds and sounds into a word.
That skill matters far beyond the check. Every book your child will ever read is full of words they have not seen before. Decoding is how they will read them.
In the check, about half of the 40 words are alien words. Our guide to the Phonics Screening Check explains the rest.
Examples by phase
Schools teach sounds in phases. Alien words can be made from any phase. Here are some examples, from the first sounds to the later ones. Our guide to the phonics phases lists every sound.
| Phase | What your child is learning | Alien words to try |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 2 | Single letters and a few pairs like ck, ff, ll and ss | nid, gop, tep, hib, moff |
| Phase 3 | New letters, and pairs and threes like sh, ch, ai, igh, ar | shap, chon, zeb, vaim, jigh, zarn |
| Phase 4 | Two consonants side by side, and longer words | stim, flon, grunk, glimp, sandop |
| Phase 5 | New ways to spell sounds, like ay, oy, ie and a-e | splaw, froy, strie, blape, thirk |
Your child will not meet the Phase 5 words until later in Year 1, so start with the ones that match what they are learning now.
How to read an alien word
Show your child the steps, then let them have a go.
- Look for the sounds first. Some sounds are written with two or three letters, like “sh” in “shap” or “igh” in “jigh”.
- Say each sound in order, using pure sounds: “sh”, “a”, “p”.
- Blend the sounds together, faster and faster, until it becomes one word: “shap”.
If your child reads “shap” as “sh-a-p” and cannot blend it yet, say the sounds back a little faster and let them try again. Blending gets easier with practice. Our guide to pure sounds helps with step 2.
How to practise at home
Keep it playful and short. Three minutes is plenty.
- Name the alien. Draw a silly alien together, then write it a name like “plib” or “zorp”. Read the name aloud in an alien voice.
- Real or alien? Say a word and ask whether it is real or an alien’s name: “dog”, “vog”, “fish”, “tish”.
- Change one sound. Start with a real word like “cat”. Change one sound to make an alien word: “zat”, “cug”, “cag”.
- Robot talk. Say an alien word one sound at a time, like a robot: “b-l-o-p”. Your child says the whole word.
- Silly shopping list. Take turns adding an alien item to a shopping list and reading the whole list back.
Our guide to helping your child with phonics at home has ten more three-minute ideas.
Common mistakes to look out for
- Turning it into a real word. A child sees “tiv” and says “tin” or “tag”. Point to each letter and try again.
- Missing a sound. “flon” becomes “fon”. Ask your child to point to each sound as they say it.
- Adding “uh”. “b-uh l-uh a-p” is hard to blend. Pure sounds make blending much easier.
These are normal, and every reader makes them while learning. A calm “let’s look again” works better than “no”.
What Xenly does, and what it doesn’t
In Xenly, every alien word is a creature waiting to be born. Your child reads the creature’s name aloud, and each sound they read grows one part of it. The vowel sound grows the body. The sounds before it grow the legs and arms, and the sounds after it grow the face and antennae. If a sound needs a second go, that part stays see-through, so you can see at a glance which sound to practise. The creature then lives on your child’s own planet.
Xenly makes new alien words from the sounds your child finds hardest, so practice goes where it is needed. It only uses sounds your child has been taught.
Xenly does not listen to your child. You listen, and you tap any sound that needed a second go, just like a teacher does in the check. See the plans, starting free.
Questions parents ask
Is it confusing to read words that are not real?
Most children love it. Alien words feel like a game. The alien picture makes it clear these are names, not real words.
My child keeps turning alien words into real ones. What should I do?
That is a sign they are guessing from what they know. Slow down, point to each letter, and say each sound together. It passes with practice.
Should my child say an alien word the same way every time?
Not always. Some spellings can be read more than one way. “ow” can sound like “cow” or “snow”. In the check, any sensible reading of an alien word is accepted.
How often should we practise?
A few minutes most days is better than a long session once a week.
Are alien words only for the check?
No. Reading alien words builds the same skill your child uses to read any new word in any book.