Page 1 of 5
Look at ship
- ship
- shop
S and h sit side by side.
But you do not hear /s/ or /h/.
They make one new sound: sh.
Get Ready
Some pairs of letters make one new sound.
Words to know
- digraphTwo letters that make one sound together.
Learn It
Page 2 of 5
Two more pairs
- chip
- thin
- this
Ch makes one sound, like in chip.
Th makes one sound, like in thin.
Page 3 of 5
Blend or digraph?
sh
You hear: /sh/
A digraph — one new sound instead
the soundship
| Letters | s and h — two letters |
|---|---|
| Sounds you hear | 1: /sh/ |
| Can you hear s’s own sound? | No |
| What is missing | neither /s/ nor /h/ |
| So it is | A digraph — two letters, one sound |
This is the one to notice. In sh you hear /sh/ — and that is neither /s/ nor /h/. The two letters gave up their own sounds and made a different one instead. So you cannot sound ship out letter by letter; you have to treat sh as a single thing that makes one sound.
Say the pair. Can you hear the first letter?
Yes? It is a blend. No? It is a digraph.
Page 4 of 5
Count the sounds
- fish
Fish has four letters.
But it has three sounds: f, i, sh.
Page 5 of 5
One more: ck
- duck
- rock
C and k make one sound too.
It is the /k/ sound. Say duck.
Your Turn
Answer each question in the yellow box.
Question 1 of 8
How many sounds are in chip?
Question 2 of 8
Say stop, then shop. In which one can you hear /s/?
Question 3 of 8
How many sounds does sh make?
Question 4 of 8
Which pair makes one new sound?
Question 5 of 8
Say chip. Can you hear a /k/ sound at the start?
Question 6 of 8
How many sounds are in thin?
Question 7 of 8
What sound does ck make in duck?
Question 8 of 8
Say sh. Is it a blend or a digraph?
What You Learned
- Some pairs make one new sound.
- Sh, ch and th are pairs like that.
- Hear the first letter? It is a blend.
- Ship has four letters and three sounds.
For the grown-up
A digraph is two letters making one sound that belongs to neither (sh, ch, th). A blend keeps both sounds (st, bl).
The test a child can run on any pair: say it, and listen for the first letter. Heard it, blend; not there, digraph. It works on pairs nobody taught them, where a memorized list does not. Th has two versions (thin, this); ck is a digraph whose one sound is the /k/ c already makes.