Words With Letters Sleeve

Words With Letters Sleeve – When two consonants are together and each gives its own sound, it is called a consonant blend. Consonant blends are more common than you think – you probably read and say hundreds of them a day! Check out some consonant blends and consonant blend lists to help you understand this basic phonics concept.

Consonant blends, also defined as consonant clusters, occur in words of all lengths. You’ll likely find them in CCVC words, but they can also be found in longer words. For example, in the word “drink”, the letters “d” and “r” are part of a two-letter consonant blend. You can clearly hear the sounds of both these letters, making it a consonant blend. Check out more two-letter consonant blends you see every day.

Words With Letters Sleeve

When the second letter of a two-letter consonant blend is “l,” it is called an l blend. In fact, the word “mix” is l-mix! More L mixes are:

Positive Words Letter B

When the second letter of a two-letter consonant blend is “r”, it is called an r blend. Most of the above consonants are also found in r blends.

The last two types of two-letter consonant blends include “s” and “t”. When the first letter of a two-letter consonant blend is “s,” it’s an s blend, and when it’s a “t,” it’s called a t blend.

Three-letter consonant blends consist of three consonants that are not separated by any vowel. Like two-letter blends, you still say the sound of each letter when you say the blends. Common three-letter consonant blends include:

When two consonants together form one distinct sound, it is called a consonant digraph. The two letters are still there, but you only hear one sound. Common digraphs include:

No More Schlepping

The difference between consonant blends and digraphs can be difficult to distinguish. You just need to remember that digraphs only create one sound, while blends carry both sounds forward.

For a list of common consonant blends, download and print the list below. It’s a great way to test your pronunciation and writing skills!

Many of these consonant blends probably look familiar to you because we all use words with them every day. Part of understanding how words sound in English is learning to use or recognize consonant blends. As a fun consonant blending activity, see if you can make your own consonant blending sentences using as many l-blending, r-blending, s-blending, or t-blending as possible in one sentence.