Consonants – digraphs, trigraphs, hard, soft, blends, silent sounds

Consonants are the letters of the alphabet other than the vowels a e i o u. The ones in the English alphabet are b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z.

In English, some consonants are very picky about their association with others and can only be blended with certain consonants. There are a few that when blended together, they sound similar to other consonants or have one sound. Here is what you need to know.

CLICK HERE to Improve Spelling and Reading Skills with 10 BOOKS OF SHORT STORIES with rimes.

Digraphs

A digraph is a single sound that is represented by two letters.

ph – phone, graph, phase, photo

wh – what, when, which, whole, why

sh – sharp, sheep, wish, cushion, wash

ss – passion, session, mission, admission

ch – chain, chef, stomach, church, teach, cheese

gh – rough, tough, cough, laugh, trough, lough

th – that, then, this, thought, thump

wh – whole, white, while, what, which, when, who, why

wr – write, wring, wrong, wrath, wrought, wrung

Reading intervention: 20 critical literacy problems to address

Direction and position: Teach toddlers 15 important concepts

Learn alphabet: Download 27 free worksheets to colour

Trigraphs

A trigraph is a single sound represented by three letters.

tch – watch, fetch, stitch, notch, butcher

ght – caught, weight, fight, bought, freight

dge – edge, grudge, hedge, ledge

ght – caught, weight, height, bought, daughter

gue – vogue, dialogue, catalogue, monologue, analogue

Here are 17 trigraphs mixed with vowels and consonants.

Grapheme with 4 letters

A grapheme with 4 letters represents one sound in a word. It is referred to as a tetragraph and ‘quadgraph’ by many teachers.

augh – caught, naught, daughter

eigh – eight, weigh, height

ough – through, although, though

ngue – tongue, cangue, gangue

Soft and hard sounds consonants

Soft C sounds like S before ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘y’ as in cell, city, cycle, cease, cinema, cyclone

Hard C sounds like K before everything else as in cat, cow, call, clown, crab

Soft G sounds like J as in general, giant, gymnastic, generous, ginger, large

Hard G sounds like voiced K (sounded in the throat) as in gum, go, guest, gorilla, grab

Alphabet: 7 major things to know about letters and sounds

Vowels – syllables, digraphs, trigraphs, long, short and silent

Two letter words: Download 5 free worksheets for tracing

English consonant blends

Here is a breakdown on the common consonant blends,

B blends with L and R

BL – black, bleed, blind, block, blue

BR – brand, bread, brick, brother, brush

C blends with H, L and R

CH – chart, check, child, chocolate, church

CL – clap, clean, climb, clothes, clutter

CR – crab, creep, crib, crown, crumb

D blends with R and W

DR – draw, dream, drill, drop, drum

DW – dwarf, dwell, dwindle

F blends with L and R

FL – flag, flee, flight, floor, flu

FR – fragile, free, frisk, frog, fruit

G blends with L and R

GL – glass, glee, glimpse, glow, glue

GR – grass, great, gripe, grow, grumble

P blends with L and R

PL – play, plea, plight, plough, plug

PR – pray, predator, price, profession, prune

S blends with C, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, T and W

SC – scare, school, score, scold, scum

SH – share, sheep, ship, shore, shun

SK – skate, skeleton, skip, skull

SL – slap, sleep, slim, slow, slum

SM – smart, smell, smile, smoke, smug

SN – snack, sneak, snicker, snow, snuck

SP – spare, speak, spine, spoon, spun

SQ – squad, square, squeal, squirm, squid

ST – stare, step, stick, stop, sturdy

SW – swap, sweet, swizzle, swollen, swung

T blends with H, R and W

TH – that, their, think, thought, thumb

TR – trap, tremble, trickle, trophy, trust

TW – twerk, twist, twine

Sounds made with digraphs and trigraphs

CH sounds like K – technology, stomach, school, echo, monarch

CK sounds like K – back, deck, pick, lock, truck

GH sounds like F – laugh, cough, rough, tough, draught

XY sounds like Z – xylophone, xylograph

PH sounds like F – phase, phone, phenomenon, phishing

QU sounds like KW – quit, queen, quiet, quite, question

SU sounds like SW – suave, suede, suite

Spelling rules for ch, tch, ck, k, oi, oy, ou, ow, ie, ei

Affixes – rules for adding prefixes and suffixes

Trace alphabet: Download 27 free worksheets

SH sound is made when some consonants and vowels are blended

CH – chef, champagne, chivalry, machine, brochure

SS – passion, session, mission, pressure, assure

SU – sugar, sure, ensure, surely, insurance

CEA – ocean

CEO – curvaceous

CIE – ancient, sufficient, efficient, deficient

CIA – official, commercial, racial, facial

CIO – precious, suspicious, luscious,

TIA – partial, substantial, potential, essential

TIO – nation, ration, solution, attraction

Silent consonants

B – lamb, debt, limb, doubt, thumb

C – muscle, acquire, scissors, scene

D – handsome, Wednesday

G – gnaw, sign, gnostic, gnu

H – honest, ghost, hour, white, rhyme

GH – taught, weight, fight, thought, highway

K – knock, knee, knight, knife

L – walk, talk, calm, palm, could, should

N – hymn, column, solemn, autumn, condemn

P – psalm, pneumonia, psychic, psychology

S – island, debris, aisle, chassis

T – castle, nestle, listen, asthma

W – wrap, wreath, write, whole, two, answer

____________________________________

When you buy something through our retail links, we may earn commission and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

• 15 Thoughtful Christmas gifts for teenagers in 2024
• Top 10 gaming gadgets for the ultimate gaming experience
• Cyberbullying and online harassment: Protecting young people from digital dangers
• Teen fashion: Building a mix-and-match wardrobe
• Healthy eating habits, happy kids: A parent’s guide to fuelling their future

See also:

Words -am ending: Download 5 free worksheets to trace

Words -an ending: Download 6 free worksheets to trace

Words -at ending: Download 8 free worksheets to trace

Learn numbers: Download 32 free worksheets to colour

Trace numbers: Download 32 free worksheets for practice