In at least 107 words,

        with 35 exceptions:

Assistant, brilliant, covenant, defiant, distant, elephant, fragrant, gallant, giant, ignorant, important, infant, instant, jubilant, lieutenant, merchant, pageant, peasant, pheasant, pleasant, protestant, relevant, remnant, restaurant, sergeant, sextant, truant, tyrant, valiant, warrant.

Applicant, descant, significant, vacant. Extravagant.

er /ur / ir / ear ... - (berth, burst, bird, earn, worth)

     The stressed er-sound is spelt very unpredictably.

Berth, fern, her, herb, herd, jerk, nerve, perch, serve, stern, swerve, term, verb, verge, verse, were.

Advertisement, alert, alternative, anniversary, assert, certain, commercial, concern, confer, conserve, conversion, deserve, dessert, detergent, determine, emerge, eternal, exert, expert, external, fertile, germinate, hermit, impertinent, insert, interpret, jersey, kernel, merchant, mercury, mercy, observe, perfect, perfume, permanent, permit, person, pertinent, preserve, refer, reserve, reverse, sermon, serpent, terminate, termite, thermal, transfer, universal, university, verdict, vermin, version, versus, vertical.

   Blur, burden, burglar, burgle, burly, burn, burr, burst, church, churn, curfew, curl, curlew, curse, curt, curve, disturb, excursion, fur, furnish, furry, further, gurgle, hurdle, hurl, hurt, hurtle, incursion, lurch, lurk, murder, murmur, nasturtium, nurse, nursery, occur, purchase, purple, purpose, purr, purse, return, slur, spur, spurn, spurt, sturdy, suburb, surf, surface, surge, surgeon, surgery, surname, surplus, survey, Thursday, topsy-turvy, turban, turbine, turf, turkey, turmoil, turn, turnip, turquoise, turtle, urban, urchin, urge, urn, yurt.

   Birch, bird, birth, chirp, circle, circuit, circular, circumstances, circus, confirm, dirt, encircle, fir, firm, first, flirt, girder, girdle, girl, mirth, shirk, shirt, sir, skirmish, skirt, smirk, squirm, squirt, stir, swirl, third, thirst, thirteen, thirty, twirl, virtually, virtue, whirl, whirring.

   Earl, early, earn, earnest, earth, heard, learn, pearl, rehearse, search, yearn.

Word, work, world, worm, worse, worship, worst, worth.

Attorney. Courtesy, journal, journey.

-er /-or /-our... - (after, actor, nectar, armour;

                            butcher, culture)

The unstressed -er ending is spelt -er in at least 315 common

words, but over 200 words use other spellings:

The different endings sound very much alike in ordinary speech, but it helps to exaggerate their pronunciation when learning to spell them. This leaves many people believing that they sound different too, but very few really do.

   Center, fiber, oger, saber, theater, kilometer – are spelt

   centre, fibre, ogre, sabre, theatre, kilometre

In uk English, where there is also differentiation between

   metre (measure of 100cm) and meter (measuring device).

Actor, advisor, alligator, ambassador, ancestor, anchor, assessor, author, boaconstrictor, calculator, castor, conductor, conveyor, corridor, decorator, demonstrator, director, doctor, editor, elevator, emperor, equator, error, escalator, factor, gladiator, governor, indicator, interior, inventor, investors, junior, juror, legislators, liquor, major, manor, mayor, minor, mirror, monitor, motor, navigator, operator, orator, prior, professor, proprietor, radiator, razor, rector, refrigerator, respirator, rotor, scissors, senator, senior, sensors, solicitor, spectator, sponsor, successor, superior, supervisor, surveyor, survivor, tailor, tenor, terror, tractor, traitor, tutor, victor, visitor, warrior.