英语单词是由字母及字母组合构成的，就如汉字是由笔画与偏旁构成一样。笔者用电脑统计了两千左右的单词，发现了五个字母在单词中出现频率较高，它们按出现频率由高到低分别为：
一、ER组合①ER在重读音节中读长音[ə:]
service ['sə:vis] nervous ['nə:vəs] person ['pɜ:sn] prefer [prɪ'fɜ:(r)] certain [ˈsə:tn] serve [sɜ:v]
②ER在非重读音节中读短音[ə]
over ['əuvə] paper ['peipə] customer ['kʌstəmə] lantern ['læntən] eraser [i'reizə] ruler ['ruːlə]
二、TH组合①TH组合读清音[θ]
['helθi] tooth [tu:θ] maths [mæθs] thing [θiŋ] think [θiŋk] thousand ['θauzənd] bath ['bɑːθ]
②TH组合读浊音[ð]
this [ðis] that [ðæt] weather ['weðə] whether [ˈweðə] brother ['brʌðə] their [ðεə] with [wið]
三、EA组合EA组合读音比较复杂，有以下四种
①EA组合读[i:]
cheap [tʃiːp] easy ['iːzɪ] east [iːst] real [riːl] beat [bi:t] peace [pi:s] increase ['inkri:s]
②EA组合读[e]
weather ['weðə] healthy ['helθi] wealth [welθ]bread [bred] breakfast ['brekfəst] ready ['redi]
③EA组合读[iə]
idea [ai'diə] theatre ['θiətə] really ['riəli] area ['εəriə] realize[ˈrɪəlaɪz]
④EA组合读[ei]
break [breik] great [greit]
四、AR组合AR组合的读音也比较复杂，有以下三种
①AR组合在重读音节读[a:]
scarf [skɑ:f] hard [hɑ:d] market ['mɑːkɪt] garden ['gɑːdn] dark [dɑ:k ] March [mɑːtʃ] arm [ɑːm]
②AR组合在非重读音节读 [ə]
sugar ['ʃugə] forward ['fɔːwəd] popular [ˈpɒpjələ] grammar ['græmə] solar ['səʊlə]
③AR组合在W后读[ɔ:]
warm [wɔ:m] towards [tə'wɔ:dz] warn [wɔ:n] war [wɔː] quarter [ˈkwɔ:tə]wardrobe ['wɔ:drəub]
五 、OU组合OU组合读音也比较复杂
① OU组合读[au]
mouth [maʊθ] south [sauθ] sound [saʊnd] pronounce [prəu'nauns] aloud [ə'laud]
② OU组合读[ʌ]
cousin ['kʌzən] country ['kʌntri] young [jʌŋ] touch[tʌtʃ] enough [i'nʌf] trouble ['trʌbl]
③OU组合读[u:/u]
you [ju:] soup [su:p] through [θru:] group [gru:p] could [kud] should [ʃud]
