Consonant Blends and Digraphs

Consonant blends can consist of either two letters or three letters. The sound of each consonant is blended together to produce an individually blended fast pace sound. In a consonant blend, we can hear the sound of the individual consonants.

They are prominently divided into two types, 

1.     Initial consonant blends: The initial consonant blends are a group of letters that come at the beginning of a word.

2.     Final consonant blends: The final consonant blends are a group of letters that comes at the end of the word.

Real-life blending example: To make things clearer, consider you are about to blend a few strawberries, bananas, and milk to make a smoothie. At the end of the process, you get a yummy and wonderful creamy smoothie. This smoothie is great, but yet you can also taste the individual ingredients that you initially used.

This is the same principle on which blending of sounds works on.

E.g. When you blend "/s/" and "/c/" sounds the final sound is a blend of both the individual sounds,"/sc/". You can hear the /s/ sound as well as the /k/ sound in the final blend.

Let's look at some more combinations:

s-blends	l-blends	r-blends
/s/+/c/=/sc/	/b/+/l/=/bl/	/b/+/r/=/br/
/s/+/k/=/sk/	/c/+/l/=/cl/	/c/+/r/=/cr/
/s/+/l/=/sl/	/f/+/l/=/fl/	/d/+/r/=/dr/
/s/+/m/=/sm/	/g/+/l/=/gl/	/f/+/r/=/fr/
/s/+/n/=/sn/	/p/+/l/=/pl/	/g/+/r/=/gr/
/s/+/p/=/sp/		/p/+/r/=/pr/
/s/+/t/=/st/		/t/+/r/=/tr/
/s/+/w/=/sw/

Initial Consonant Blends (Two Letters)

Word List: S Blends (sc-, sk-, sl-, sm-, sn-, sp-, st-, sw-)

sc words	sk words	sl words	sm words	sn words	sp words	st words	sw words
scan	ski	slab	smog	snug	span	star	swap
scam	sky	slam	smack	snap	spin	stem	swim
scab	skin	slap	smock	snob	spun	step	swam
scum	skim	sled	smudge	snip	spat	still	sway
Scot	skit	slid	smoke	snub	spot	stiff	swamp
scar	skip	slip	smash	snug	spur	stop	swan
scant	skill	slit	smile	snow	spy	stew	swatch
scarf	skull	slot	smart	snack	space	stare	swine
scare	skew	slug	smear	snare	speck	stair	swift
score	skunk	slim	smooth	snore	spend	start	sweat
scalp	skate	slop	smear	sniff	spent	starve	sweet
scout	skillet	slide	smart	snare	spike	starch	sweep
scorn		slate		snail	spill	steal
scorch		slant		sneak	spine	stool
scold		slope		sneeze	speak	storm
scale		slice		sneeze	spark	steep
scooter		slime			spear	steer
		slush			speed	steam
		sleep			spoil	stick
		slipper			spoon	stove
					spout	style
					speech	stink
					spanner	stitch
					spider	stock

Word List: L Blends (bl-, cl-. fl-, gl-, pl-)

bl words	cl words	fl words	gl words	pl words
blue	clue	fly	glue	plan
blow	clap	flu	glad	plant
black	clad	flame	glam	plum
blank	clan	flap	glow	plume
blink	clam	flop	glaze	plot
blunt	claw	flip	globe	play
bless	clap	flag	glide	plus
bluff	clip	flat	glove	plane
blush	clog	flow	glass	place
blend	club	floss	glare	plain
blade	class	flute	glitch	please
blaze	clove	flood	gloom	plead
blame	clock	float	glaze	pledge
blood	clown	floor
bloom	claim	flea
blouse	cling

Word List: R Blends (br-, cr-, dr-, fr-, gr-, pr-, tr-)

br words	cr words	dr words	fr words	gr words	pr words	tr words
brat	cry	dry	fry	grow	prom	try
brew	crab	drag	frog	grew	pram	truck
brow	crew	drop	from	grin	press	trade
braid	crow	drug	fresh	graze	prank	tram
brain	crush	draw	frank	grand	print	trout
bread	crash	drew	frame	grant	prowl	trap
brown	crack	drum	fridge	grape	praise	trip
brink	crisp	drone	friend	grade	pride	tray
bring	crane	drawl	frown	grind	prime	trim
brave	crowl	dream	freeze	grave	prize	tree
broom	crook	drool	fright	grain	price	true
bridge	crown	dress		greet	prone	track
bright	crave	drift		green	prove	trace
branch	crazy	drank		great	proof	trade
browse	crinkle			groan	prune	treat
				ground	prince	train
				groom	prank	trust
						trash
						trunk

Initial Consonant Blends (Three Letters)

Word List: (str-, spr-, spl-, scr-, squ-,-shr, -thr)

str words	spr words	spl words	scr words	squ words	shr words	thr words
streak	spring	splash	screech	squirrel	shrub	three
strap	spray	split	script	squint	shrine	thrice
straw	spread	splendid	scrape	square	shrewd	throat
strong	sprint	spleen	scream	squeeze	shrimp	thrush
stride	sprite	splat	scrap	squeak	shrink	threat
string	sprout	splutter	screen	squid	shrunk	throne
street	sprung	splendor	screw	squirm	shrug	thread
stripe	sprinkle	splurge	scribble	squash	shrivel	throb

Final Consonant Blends (Two Letters)

Word List: (-nd, -nt, -nk, -st, -sk, -sp, -mp, -rd)

nd words	nt words	nk words	st words	sk words	sp words	mp words	rd words
kind	client	blink	first	desk	gasp	clamp	bird
find	spent	blank	last	husk	wasp	lamp	word
grind	sprint	frank	must	dusk	grasp	damp	hard
blind	blunt	drank	just	musk	clasp	dump	card
end	different	drink	lust	task	crisp	jump	yard
bland	parent	pink	trust	ask		pump	record
blend	plant	bank	test	risk		hump

Word List: (-ld, -lp, -lt, -lf, -pt, -ft, -ct)

ld words	lp words	lf words	pt words	ft words	ct words
gold	help	elf	kept	soft	act
mold	gulp	golf	slept	gift	fact
hold	scalp	gulf	adopt	drift	tract
bold	pulp	self	attempt	rift	object
scold	yelp	shelf	exempt	raft	project
told		wolf		left	respect

Digraphs: When two consonants are joined together, the final sound is neither of any two consonants, but produce a completely new sound. For Blends, we related it to a smoothie, where we can taste the individual ingredients in the final product. For digraphs, let's take an example of fried chicken. The initial ingredients are flour, egg, some spices, oil and of course chicken. But the final product has a completely new taste. No initial ingredients can be tasted. That is exactly what digraphs are!

Word List: (ch, sh, th, wh)

ch words	sh words	th words	wh words
chair	she	think	whale
child	share	thank	what
children	shout	health	wheat
blind	shrewd	south	wheal
beach	shy	bath	why
speech	mash	cloth	where
screech	flash	smooth	whisper