GROUNDWORK FOR

COLLEGE READING
WITH PHONICS
Fourth Edition

John Langan

© 2008 Townsend Press

 Part I, Chapter One:
Phonics I: Consonants
THIS CHAPTER IN A NUTSHELL
• Twenty-one of the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet are
consonants.
— Fifteen consonants have only one sound when they appear by
themselves: b, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w, y, and z.
— Six consonants have more than one sound: c, d, g, q, s, and x.

• There are three types of consonant combinations:

— Consonant blends are combinations that blend the sounds of
single consonants, such as score, splash, broke, and lift.
— Consonant digraphs are pairs that combine to make a new
sound: phone, their, chip.
— Silent consonants are not pronounced in certain combinations:
comb, write, know.
PHONICS

Phonics tells you

• how to break a word into parts called syllables
• how to pronounce each syllable
CONSONANTS

Twenty-one of the twenty-six letters in the English alphabet

are consonants:

b c d f g h j
k l m n p q r
s t v w x y z
SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH ONLY ONE SOUND

The fifteen consonants below generally have only one sound.

b (bed) l (lump) t (tub)

f (fan) m (mud) v (vine)
h (hog) n (neck) w (web)
j (jab) p (pat) y (yell)
k (kiss) r (rub) z (zoom)
SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN
ONE SOUND

The six consonants below have more than one sound.

c g d q s x
SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN
ONE SOUND: Sounds of c

The letter c can have the soft sound of c, as in:

cell city circus

C can also have the hard sound, like a k, as in:

can actor circus

What other words can you think of that are examples of the
soft sound of c? of the hard sound of c?
SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN
ONE SOUND: Sounds of g

The letter g can have the soft sound, like a j, as in:

gym angel magic

G can have the hard sound, as in:

game guess pig

What other words can you think of that are examples of the
soft sound of g? of the hard sound of g?
SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN
ONE SOUND: Sounds of d

The letter d usually sounds like the d in dot, as in:

date side bleed

Sometimes d can sound like j, as in:

educate schedule soldier

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN
ONE SOUND: Sounds of q (qu)
The letter q is always followed by u in English. Qu usually
sounds like kw, as in:

queen quilt require

Sometimes qu sounds like k, as in:

antique plaque mosquito

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN
ONE SOUND: Sounds of s

The consonant s usually sounds like the s in salt:

soup unsafe bus

Sometimes s sounds like z, as in the word those.

nose reason hers

SINGLE CONSONANTS WITH MORE THAN ONE
SOUND: Sounds of x

The consonant x usually sounds like ks:

fox next Mexico

When ex is followed by a vowel, it usually sounds like gz.

exact exam exist

When x begins a word, it sounds like z, as in the word

Xerox.
THREE TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS

A consonant combination is two or more consonants that work

together. There are three kinds of consonant combinations:

• Consonant blends: Combinations that blend the sounds

of single consonants. Example: screen

• Consonant digraphs: Consonant pairs that combine to

make a new sound. Example: rough

• Silent consonants: Consonants that are silent in certain

combinations. Example: lamb
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Blends

Consonant blends are two or more neighboring consonants that

keep their own sounds but are spoken together.
Example: monster

There are four major types of consonant blends:

1 Blends that begin with s
2 Blends that end in l
3 Blends that end in r
4 Other blends in the middle or at the end of a word
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Blends: Blends that begin with s

The consonant blends below begin with s. They are found at the
beginning and in the middle of words.

sc- scr- sk- sl- sm-

sn- sp- spl- spr- squ-
st- str- sw-

Three of these blends—sk, sp, st—are also found at the end of

words.
Examples:
scrap smog wasp sprout best
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Blends: Blends that end in l

The consonant blends below end in l. They may be at the

beginning or in the middle of a word.

bl- cl- fl- gl- pl-

Examples:
bless clam reflect eagle apply
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Blends: Blends that end in r

The consonant blends below end in r. They may be at the

beginning or in the middle of a word.

br- cr- dr- fr- gr-

pr- tr-

Examples:
broke increase dream afraid greed
pray contract
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Blends: Other blends

Below is a list of other consonant blends that may appear in the

middle or at the end of a word.

-ft -ld -lt -mp -nd

-nk -nt

Examples:
softly child meltdown lamp hand
bankbook painting
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Digraphs

• A consonant digraph is a pair of consonants that

combine together to make a new sound that is very
different from the sound of either of the two letters.

• There are three types of digraphs:

1 Digraphs that sound like f: gh and ph
2 Digraphs with new sounds of their own: sh and th
3 A digraph with three sounds: ch
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Digraphs: Digraphs that sound like f

The diagraphs gh and ph each have the sound of the single

consonant f.

Examples of words in which gh sounds like f:

laughing enough tough

Examples of words in which ph sounds like f:

phone dolphin graph
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Digraphs: Digraphs with new sounds

The diagraph sh does not sound like any single letter. It has
a sound of its own.

Examples of words with the digraph sh:

show washer fish

The diagraph th can have the “voiced th sound” or the

“unvoiced th sound.”
Examples of words with the voiced th sound:
they there bathe

Examples of words with the unvoiced th sound:

third thank bath
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Consonant Digraphs: A digraph with three sounds

The diagraph ch has three different sounds. Most common is

the hard and short ch sound as in the word check.
Examples of words with the hard and short ch sound:
chip chief ranch

Sometimes, ch sounds like sh.

Examples of words in which ch sounds like sh:
chef chute Michelle

Finally, ch sometimes sounds like k.

Examples of words in which ch sounds like k:
chorus character chronic
TYPES OF CONSONANT COMBINATIONS
Silent Consonants
In certain letter combinations, one of the consonants is silent.

• b is silent after m: bomb climb

• c is silent before k: deck packer
• g is silent before n: gnaw sign
• h is often silent after w when wh begins a word:
whisper white
• w is often silent when a word begins with who:
who whole

• k is silent before n: know knife

• w is silent before r: wreck unwrap

• When two of the same consonant are next to each other,

one of them is silent: add narrow
CHAPTER REVIEW
In this chapter, you learned the following:

• Fifteen consonants have only one sound when they stand alone:
b, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, w, y, and z.

• Six consonants have more than one sound: c, g, d, q, s, and x.

c certain, curtain q queen, antique
g wage, wag s soup, nose
d date, educate x fox, exact, Xerox

• There are three types of consonant combinations:

— Consonant blends
— Consonant digraphs
— Silent consonants

(Chapter Review continues on next slide)

CHAPTER REVIEW, continued
• Types of consonant combinations:
— Consonant blends are combinations that blend the sounds
of single consonants, such as the following:
Blends beginning with s:
score, scrap, skate, slam, small, snore, spank, splash,
sprout, squeak, steel, street, swear
Blends ending with l:
bless, clam, flag, glad, play
Blends ending with r:
broke, crime, dream, free, greed, pray, train
Blends at the end of a syllable or word:
lift, child, belt, dumpster, windbag, bankbook, wanting

(Chapter Review continues on next slide)

CHAPTER REVIEW, continued
— Consonant digraphs are pairs of consonants that combine
to make a new sound, such as the following:
Digraphs that sound like f:
gh laughing ph phone
Digraphs with sounds of their own:
sh fish th(voiced) their th(unvoiced) third
A digraph with three sounds—ch:
chip chef chorus

— Silent consonants are consonants that are not pronounced

in certain combinations, including the following:
mb comb gn gnaw who whose
wr write ck deck wh white
kn know
Two consonants together: bell, narrow, fuss