Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends

Definitions, examples and free PowerPoints and printable word lists for CCVC, CVCC, VCC, CCCVC, CCVCC, and CCCVCC words.

Contents:

What are Adjacent Consonant Clusters or Blends?

Adjacent consonant clusters or blends are groups of 2 or 3 consonant letters that are next to each other in printed words – each letter represents an individual sound in the spoken word.

For example, the highlighted letters in ‘frog’, ‘clap’ and ‘lamp’ are adjacent consonants.  Examples of words with 3 adjacent consonants include ‘splat’ and ‘string’. 

The term ‘blends’ is often used in the USA and it was commonly used in UK schools for some time.  However, the expression ‘adjacent consonants’ is more popular these days.  Other names include consonant clusters and consonant blends, but all these terms mean the same thing.  

Blends are different from digraphs or trigraphs where groups of letters represent one sound.  Click on the following link for a more detailed explanation of the difference between digraphs and blends.

Some young children and some non-native English speakers find pronouncing words with adjacent consonants difficult.  With phonics instruction, CVC words are normally introduced first because they are easier to read for beginners.

We discuss how to teach adjacent consonants/blends in our article on phonics instruction.

Adjacent consonants can be found at the beginning of words, the end of words or both.  For example, ‘crab’, ’link’ and ‘trunk’. 

Different terminology is used to describe words containing adjacent consonants depending on where they are in the word.  For example see CCVC words, CVCC words and other abbreviations below.

CCVC Words

CCVC is an abbreviation for words with a consonantconsonantvowelconsonant letter pattern. 

For example, the letters in frog, grip, swim and trap are arranged in the CCVC pattern.

Common examples of adjacent consonants at the start of CCVC words include: bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl, pr, sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, tr and tw.

Children are normally taught how to read CCVC words after they have become reasonably proficient at reading CVC words

CCVC Word List

Note that the words in brackets aren’t technically CCVC words because they end in digraphs.  However, they start with the CCV letter pattern and children shouldn’t find them any more difficult to read if they are already familiar with these word endings.

Click the following link to download this list as a free printable pdf document.

blab bled blip blob blot (black bless bliss block bluff) 

brad brag bran brat bred brim (brass brick)

clad clam clan clap clef clip clod clog clop clot club (class click cliff clock cluck)

crab crag cram crib crop crux (crack crass cress cross)

drab drag dram dreg drip drop drug drum (dress drill)

flab flag flan flap flat flax fled flex flip flit flog flop flux (floss)

fret frog from (frill frock)

glad glen glib glob glum glut (glass gloss)

grab grad gram gran grid grim grin grip grit grub (grass grill gruff)

plan pleb plex plod plop plot plug plum plus (pluck) 

prim prod prom prop (press)

scab scam scan scot scum (scoff scuff)

skid skim skip skit (skill skull)

slab slam slap slat sled slid slim slip slit slob slop slot slug slum (slack slick)

smog smug (smack smell smock) 

snag snap snip snob snot snub snug (snack sniff snuck snuff)

spam span spat sped spin spit spot spud spun (spell spill)

stab stag stem step stop stub stud stun (stack staff stick) 

swam swim swum (swell) 

tram trap trek trim trip trod trot (track troll truck)

twig twin twit (twill) 

CVCC Words

CVCC is an abbreviation for words with a consonantvowelconsonantconsonant letter pattern. 

For example, the letters in went, camp, milk and band are arranged in the CVCC pattern.  

Children are normally taught how to read these words after they have become reasonably proficient at reading CVC words and CCVC words.

Some teachers also introduce VCC words before CVCC words.  We’ve provided examples of VCC words further down in this article.

CVCC Word List

Click on the following link to download this list as a free printable pdf document.

(ct) duct fact

(ft) daft deft gift left lift loft raft rift sift soft tuft

(lb) bulb

(ld) gild held meld weld

(lf) golf gulf self

(lk) bulk hulk milk silk sulk

(lm) film helm

(ln) kiln

(lp) gulp help pulp yelp

(lt) belt bolt colt cult gilt hilt jilt jolt kilt melt pelt silt tilt volt wilt

(mp) bump camp damp dump hemp hump jump lamp limp lump pomp pump ramp romp rump wimp

(nd) band bend bond fend fond fund hand lend mend pend pond sand send tend vend wind

(nk) bank bunk conk dank funk honk hunk junk kink lank link mink pink punk rank rink sank sink sunk tank wink yank

(nt) bent dent font hint hunt lent mint pant pent punt rant rent runt sent tent tint vent went

(pt) kept rapt wept

(sk) bask cask desk disk dusk husk mask risk task tusk

(sp) cusp gasp lisp rasp wisp

(st) best bust cast cost dust fast fist gust jest just last lest list lost mast mist must nest past pest rest rust test vast vest west zest

(xt) next text

Other Adjacent Consonant/Blend Letter Patterns

VCC, CCCVC, CCVCC, CCCVCC

Click on the following link to download these word lists as a free printable pdf document.

VCC Word List

act elf elk ilk elm alp amp imp and end ink ant apt opt ask asp

CCCVC Word List

Note that the word in brackets isn’t technically a CCCVC word because it ends in a digraph.  However, it has the same CCCV pattern at the start of the word. 

scram scrap scrip scrub

splat split

sprat sprig sprog

strap (stress) struck strum strut

CCVCC Word List

blunt bland blank blast blend blink blitz brink brisk clamp clasp cleft clink clump clunk craft cramp crest crimp crisp crust draft drank drift drink drunk flank flask flint flunk frank frisk frost frump gland glint glitz graft grand grant grasp grunt plank plant plump print scalp scant skimp skulk skunk slant slump smelt spank spunk stamp stand stump swept swift tract tramp trump trunk twist

CCCVCC Word List

scrimp script splint sprint spritz strand strict

Word List PowerPoint 

Click on the following link to access a free PowerPoint containing all the words listed above.

Teaching Strategies for Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends

Some children have few problems reading words with adjacent consonants, but others can struggle when they first encounter them.  Introducing words systematically can make the learning process easier for these children… 

Firstly, it’s important to choose suitable words for beginning readers.  Start with short words that contain regular letter-sound correspondences.  We’ve made some printable resources and PowerPoints containing words like these which you can find at the bottom of this page.  Begin with examples your learners are familiar with and perhaps introduce some less familiar words as they become more fluent.

The examples in our resources are arranged in pairs to make it easier for children to see how words with consonant clusters are related to simpler words.  For instance:

Strategy for words with adjacent consonant

Start by getting your child to read the first word in the pair – they shouldn’t find this difficult if they are at the right level for this exercise.

Next, show them the word with the extra consonant at the start or end of it (highlighted in red).  Since they’ve already worked out the first word, they only need to add one more sound at the start or end to work out the new word.

For example, to help your child to read the word ‘clip’, you will first get them to sound out/read ‘lip’ as a separate word and then add a ‘c’ in front of it to get ‘clip’. For the word ‘hump’, we start with ‘hum’ and then add the ‘p’ to make hump, and so on. 

Help them blend the letters to read the word if they struggle with the idea at first.  You can also move back and forth with each word pair and get them to read each word several times to reinforce the idea.

In some cases, we’ve included more than one word that can be made from the original one.  For example, ‘ran’, ‘bran’ and ‘gran’, ‘lip’ ‘clip’ and ‘slip’.

This strategy isn’t ideal for all words.  For instance, to make the words ‘frog‘ and ‘swim‘ you would have to start with ‘rog‘ and ‘wim‘, which aren’t real words.  However, you will find suitable examples in our printable resources or PowerPoint slide shows. 

We’ve made alternative versions of the PowerPoints, with and without images.  You could use examples with images first to make reading the words easier for your students and to help with their comprehension.  Perhaps use the word-only version later to check they weren’t just guessing from the pictures. Feel free to adapt/modify the PowerPoint resources to fit the needs of your students.

You can also try the same strategy using magnetic letters or alphabet cards.  Asking a child to build up the words letter-by-letter can improve their spelling skills and you can add or remove the extra consonant as many times as necessary. 

If you find that your child is still struggling after you’ve been through all of the words 2 or 3 times over the course of a few sessions, then try the following strategy:

  • Write down the adjacent consonants at the start of a word (or use magnetic letters) and help your child to say and blend the sounds of the consonants. Once they can repeat the sounds confidently, reveal the rest of the word and get them to read it by saying the combined consonant sounds followed by the other letter sounds. 
    • So, for example, with the word ‘blip’, get your child to practise saying ‘bl’. Then show the rest of the word and guide them to read it as ‘bl’-‘i’-‘p’. 
    • For ‘brat’ your child would first practise saying ‘br’ before you show them the rest of the word to read as ‘br’-‘a’-‘t’.
    • And for ‘crab’ the child would practise saying ‘cr’ and then read the word as ‘cr’-‘a’-‘b’.

You can do a similar procedure for words that end in adjacent consonants.  For example, write down and get your child to practice saying ‘nt’, then add the other letters and help them to read ‘tent’.

(Note: The resources will be uploaded this week)

Free PowerPoints and Printable Resources for Teaching Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends

Click on the images below to access our free PowerPoints and printable PDF resources with example words for the strategy described above.

Illustrated PowerPoint for Teaching Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends:

Illustrated PowerPoint for Teaching Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends

Illustrated PowerPoint for Teaching Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends

PowerPoint for Teaching Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends Without Illustrations:

Teaching Strategy for Adjacent Consonant Clusters Words Only

Printable for Teaching Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends 

Printable Teaching Strategy for Adjacent Consonant Clusters/Blends

  

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