US Citizenship Test

The reading test checks that you can read basic English. The officer asks you to read one sentence aloud. If you read it correctly, you pass; if not, the officer gives you a second sentence and, if needed, a third. The sentences are short, usually questions about civics and history, and they are built from the words on the official USCIS reading vocabulary list (Chapter 1.3). Officers judge whether you read the sentence so that its meaning is clear, not whether your accent is perfect.

The English Alphabet

The English alphabet has 26 letters, and each letter has an uppercase (capital) form and a lowercase form. The vowels are A, E, I, O, and U; all other letters are consonants. Nearly every English word contains a vowel, and the vowels largely decide how a word sounds. Letters combine to form syllables, and syllables combine to form words, so breaking a long word into syllables (Con-sti-tu-tion, in-de-pen-dence) makes it easier to read aloud.

Phonics Fundamentals

Phonics connects letters to sounds. Knowing the common sound patterns lets you read words you have not practiced.

Pattern	Rule	Examples
Shortvowels	Asinglevowelbetweenconsonantsusuallyhasa	cat bed sit not cup , , , ,
	shortsound
Longvowels(silentE)	AfinalsilentEusuallymakesthevowelbeforeitlong	make time home vote , , ,
Vowelpairs	Twovowelstogetheroftenmakeonelongsound	pay meet boat , ,
Consonantblends	Twoorthreeconsonantskeeptheirownsounds	blue state street , ,
Digraphs	Twolettersmakeonenewsound	church she the/think phone(Fsound) , , ,
Silentletters	Somelettersarewrittenbutnotspoken	know walk right Lincoln(thesecondCis , , ,
		silent)

Common Sight Words

Sight words appear so often that you should recognize them instantly rather than sound them out. The reading test uses many of them.

Group	Words
High -frequency verbs Questionwords Pronouns	is are was were be have has do does can could will would should may must , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , who what when where why how , , , , , I you he she it we they me him her us them , , , , , , , , , , ,

Group	Words
Articlesanddeterminers	a an the this that these those some any many most , , , , , , , , , ,
Prepositions	in on at to for from with of by about under over , , , , , , , , , , ,

Word Parts

Long words are often a root with a prefix at the beginning or a suffix at the end. Recognizing the parts helps you read and understand them. Words ending in -tion usually name an action or condition (election, nation); words ending in -ment usually name a result or state (government, amendment).

Part	Meaning	Examples
un-	not	unfair unequal ,
re-	again	reelect rewrite ,
pre-	before	preview prepay ,
dis-	oppositeof	disagree disobey ,
mis-	wrongly	misspell misread ,
-ed	pastaction	voted lived elected , ,
-ing	ongoingaction	voting living ,
-er / -or	apersonwho	voter governor senator , ,
-est	themost	largest longest ,

Sentence Structure and Punctuation

English sentences usually follow subject + verb + object order: the subject does the action, the verb names the action, and the object receives it (Citizens elect the President.). A simple sentence has one complete thought (Citizens vote in elections.); a compound sentence joins two with a conjunction (Citizens vote, and they serve on juries.).