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]