VCV simply means vowel-consonant-vowel. It’s a pattern we will identify in many two-syllable words. VCV words can be open or closed syllable.
Let’s look at the following examples.
- Zebra – VCV
ze / bra – OPEN SYLLABLE
This an open syllable VCV word. The first syllable is open when it ends with a long vowel sound. If this was a closed syllable word, it would sound like ZEBBRA.
- Hazard – VCV
haz / ard – CLOSED SYLLABLE
Here’s a closed syllable VCV word. The first syllable is closed when first the first vowel is sandwiched between two consonants. If this were an open syllable word, it would sound like HAYZARD.
VCV Pattern Words List
| Word | Syllable |
| robin | rob / in |
| visit | vis / it |
| talent | tal / ent |
| model | mod / el |
| finish | fin / ish |
| lemon | lem / on |
| salad | sal / ad |
| novel | nov / el |
| hazard | haz / ard |
| limit | lim / it |
| human | hu / man |
| feature | fea / ture |
| frozen | fro / zen |
| peanut | pea / nut |
| second | sec / ond |
| river | riv / er |
| student | stu / dent |
| sneaker | snea / ker |
| finish | fin / ish |
| easy | ea / sy |
| pilot | pi / lot |
| planet | plan / et |
| music | mu / sic |
| seven | sev / en |
| wagon | wag / on |
| minute | min / ute |
| humor | hu / mor |
| lazy | la / zy |
| present | pres / ent |
| beacon | bea / con |
More examples of words with VCV pattern:
| Acorn | climate | item | petals |
| admire | comedy | label | problem |
| advance | denim | labor | rhinoceros |
| agent | distance | legal | silent |
| anger | enjoy | method | society |
| aroma | equation | monopoly | solo |
| avalanche | fever | motive | spider |
| Basic | hotel | native | tangerine |
| broken | icon | notation | vital |
| channel | idealistic | perhaps | vocal |
You can download the following resource to help you teach VCV words to preschool and kindergarten kids.
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