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blends vs digraphs

Author

Charlotte Adams

Updated on May 18, 2026

A digraph contains two consonants and only makes one sound such as sh, /sh/. (ch, wh, th, ck) A blend contains two consonants but they each make their own sound, such as /s/ and /l/, /sl/ (st, fl, sk, gr, sw, ect.)

What are the 7 digraphs?

A digraph is a single sound, or phoneme, that is represented by two letters. A trigraph is a phoneme that consists of three letters. Consonant digraphs include ch, ck, gh, kn, mb, ng, ph, sh, th, wh, and wr. Some of these create a new sound, as in ch, sh, and th.

What are examples of blends?

It refers to joining the beginning of one word and the end of another to make a new word with a new meaning. Smog, from smoke and fog, and brunch, from breakfast and lunch, are examples of blends.

What are blends and digraphs in English?

Consonant blends (also called consonant clusters) are groups of two or three consonants in words that makes a distinct consonant sound, such as “bl” or “spl.” Consonant digraphs include: bl, br, ch, ck, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gh, gl, gr, ng, ph, pl, pr, qu, sc, sh, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, th, tr, tw, wh, wr.

What comes first digraphs or blends?

What order should blends and digraphs be taught? While you should find the best method for YOUR students, it is recommended that blends come prior to digraphs. When learning about consonant blends, students are also learning to recognize patterns in words.

Is ar a blend?

Linguists correctly assert that the letters “ar” in part represent two distinct sounds that are blended together to get what the OnTrack Reading Phonics Program calls the single sound /ar/. Similarly, the /or/ sound taught in the program is also actually composed of two blended sounds, but is taught as a single sound.

What are the 21 consonant blends?

Part of those 44 sounds include the “blends.” Blends are 2 or 3 consonants combined to form a distinct sound such as: bl cl, fl, gl, pl, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, sk, sl, sp, st, sw, spr, cr, str. These common words with blends are good to review and print for young learners.

Is BL a blend or digraph?

A consonant blend is when two or more consonants are blended together, but each sound may be heard in the blend. The most common beginning consonant blends include: bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, sl, sm, sp and st.

Is nd a blend?

Some examples of beginning blends are bl-, sc-, or gr-. Blends can also be at the end of words, such as –nd, -st, or -mp.

How many digraphs are there?

There are six such digraphs in English, ⟨a—e, e—e, i—e, o—e, u—e, y—e⟩. However, alphabets may also be designed with discontinuous digraphs.

What is a digraph word examples?

A digraph in the English language is a group of two successive letters that represents a single sound or phoneme. Common vowel digraphs include ai (rain), ay (day), ea (teach), ea (bread), ea (break), ee (free), ei (eight), ey (key), ie (piece), oa (road), oo (book), oo (room), ow (slow), and ue (true).

What are the most common blends?

The most common beginning consonant blends include: bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, sl, sm, sp and st. Blends can also occur at the end of words as in the word “last”. There are also blends which contain three consonants. Common three consonant blends include: str, spl, and spr.

What is a 2 letter blend?

The most common 2-letter consonant blends are: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, sc, sk, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, and tw. Here are some words with 2-letter consonant blends: Bl: blank, black, blue, blister, blight, blast. Fr: fried, French, frank, frolic, frigid.

What is the difference between digraph and Diagraph?

As nouns the difference between digraph and diagraph

is that digraph is (graph theory) a directed graph or digraph can be (label) a two-character sequence used to enter a single conceptual character while diagraph is (dated) a drawing instrument that combines a protractor and scale.

What digraphs should I teach first?

Start with simple beginning and ending digraphs such as wh, ck, sh, th, and ch. Don’t forget to incorporate phonemic awareness activities while learning and practicing words with digraphs!

How do I teach my child to blend?

Tip #1: Focus on phonological awareness first.
Recognize the alphabet letters.Remember to read the sounds left-to-right.Recall and say the sounds quickly enough so as not to distract from the blending.Remember all 3+ sounds in order to blend them together and read the complete word.

How do you teach kindergarten blends and digraphs?

How We Teach Blends & Digraphs
1 – Write the letters while saying the letter names and then providing the sound those letters make. 2 – Practice blending the sounds together that are provided orally. 3 – Build familiar words with those letter patterns.

How do you explain blends to kindergarten?

Introduce words with initial blends only of 4 sounds. When students are ready, introduce final blends still with only 4 sounds before finally tackling words with initial and final blends and three letter blends at the beginning. Eventually students should be able to read and write syllables of 5 and 6 sounds.