Consonant and Vowel Digraphs List With Examples

In English, we have been learning about various vowels, consonants, and blending to form clusters. There is something more which we need to understand – Digraph. 

Digraphs are the group of two successive letters that would represent a single sound or sometimes a phoneme.  

These diagraphs produce a unique sound when they are pronounced properly. Some examples of diagraphs include – ai, au, ch, ck, aw, ay, ea, ee, ei, ey, oo, oy, sh, th, wh.

List of Vowel Digraphs with Example Words

Vowel digraphs are the group of two successive vowel letters that produce a single sound. Some examples of vowel diagraphs include – ai, au, ay, ea, ee, eu, ew, ie, oi, ou, oo, oy etc.

DigraphExamples
“ai”Pain, Spain, Dain, Drain, Main, Gain, Maim, Stain
“ay”May, Gay, Pay, Day, Play, Stay, Say, Way, Clay, Slay, Tray, Spray, 
“ea”Preach, Teach, Beach, Read, Creak, Dread, Bread, Speak, Pea, Tea, Teal, Teak, Zeal, Meal, Deal, Heal, Seal, Meat
“ee”Creek, Fleet, Feet, Peek, Sheet, Greed, Deed, Deer, Weed, Beef, Week, Need, Feel, Feed, Deep, Seek
“ie”Brief, Chief, Thief, Diet, Tier, Lier, Died, Cries, Fries, Dies, Niece, Cried, Pie, Tied
“oa”boat, goat, road
“oe”aloe, toe, woe
“oe”canoe, horseshoe, snowshoe
“oo”book, cook, shook
“oo”zoo, boom, noon
“ue”argue, blue, rescue
“ui”cruise, fruit, recruit

Now let’s explore some common consonants digraph which would help you in acknowledging the difference between consonant and a vowel digraph

List of Consonant Digraphs with Examples

Consonant digraphs are the group of two successive consonant letters that produce a single sound. Some examples of consonant diagraphs include – ch, kn, ph, th, wh etc.

DigraphInitial or Final SoundExamples
The initial “ch”InitialChocolate, charm, cheap, chipmunk, chair, cheese, child
The final “-ch”FinalHunch, munch, lunch, pinch, rich, which, ditch, march, reach, watch, teach, preach, pitch, bunch, batch, punch, hatch, torch, bench, couch, witch, hitch
The final “-ck”Finalduck, luck, sick, tuck, truck, back, lack, rock, stock, mock, knock, rock, shock, lock, back, lack, pack, jack, hack, crack, sack, flick, trick, 
“kn-“Initialknight, knife, knot, knee, knock, knuckle, know, knew, Knit, Knob, Knar, Knap, Knur, Kneed, knelt, kneel, knoll, knack, 
“ph-“Initialphone, phonics, phrase, phrase, photo, phew, Phatic, photosynthesis, pharmacy, photographic, philanthropist
“sh-“Initialshape, ship, shoe, shatter, shimmer, Sheep, Show, Shelter, sheet, shaft, shame, shock, shiver, sharp, shipmen, should, shadow, shop, shady, short, shown, shawl, shrug, shout
“-sh”Finalbrush, dish, flash, crash, bash, smash, crush, lush, josh, mesh, flesh, hush, clash, gosh, wish, fish, cash, bush, push, blush, plush, flush, harsh, marsh
“-ss”Finalbliss, chess, mess, dress, address, coss, foss, toss, kiss, loss, priss, brass, glass, class, press, cross, gross, guess, bless, bliss, floss, cress, harass, unless, access, bypass, witness
“th-“Initialthink, three, thumb, thorn, thud, thick, thin, this, throne, throat, then, they, thank, those, theft, thrill, therm, thong, throw, threw.
“-th”Finalbath, earth, with, both, path, myth, girth, depth, sloth, moth, meth, oath, wrath, health, south, north, death, worth, faith, fifth, smith, booth, tenth, tooth, width
“wh-“Initialwhale, what, why, when, whom, whip, whipped, while, whether, whose, which, whole, whirl, whoop, white, whine, whoosh
“wr-“Initialwreck, wrist, writing, wrote, written, wrap, wrong, wrist, wrench, wright, wrinkle, writer, wrapper,

Now you would be confused with digraphs and blends right? They seem similar but they are not. By looking at the examples, you might be thinking of the consonant blends. But the difference is really interesting. In the case of a digraph, the letter (vowels or consonants) come together to generate one sound. But if check blends, then the words also contain letters in combination but they make different sounds. 

Conclusion: 

Englishbix will help you in all the English grammar-related content. So till then keep working with different words – digraphs and blends.

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