Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters A vowel cluster is a group of two or more vowel letters together in a word that represent a single vowel sound For example, in the word “road”, “oa” is a vowel cluster that represents the sound eu , whilst in the word “shoe”, “oe” is a vowel cluster that represents the sound oo In the same way, “ar” in the word “car”, is a vowel cluster that uses a silent “r” to help make the vowel sound ar The reason we have vowel clusters is simple: there are 23 different single vowel sounds (vowel phonemes) in spoken English, but only single vowel letters in written English We need vowel clusters to represent in spelling all of the different vowel sounds For example, the letter “a” on its own can make the sound a when sandwiched between two consonant sounds, for example in the word “cat” – Kat – but there is no single letter which can make the very common vowel sound =oo , as in “true” Troo We have to use a vowel cluster – in this case “ue” – to represent this sound on paper Vowel clusters can occur anywhere in a word – at the beginning (initial), as in “out”; in the middle (medial), as in “please”; and at the end (final), as in “true” Focusing on vowel clusters and consonant clusters (see p.217) is useful if you want to look at some of the differences between spelling and sounds in English words (See also Rhyming Words, from p.30.) Vowel clusters can be divided into eight categories: Vowel Digraphs Vowel Trigraphs and Quadgraphs Vowel Clusters that End with “-r” Other Vowel Clusters with “r” Vowel Clusters with “w” Vowel Clusters with “y” Vowel Clusters with “gh” Vowel Clusters with Other Consonant Letters What follows is a comprehensive list of vowel clusters, with the sounds that they represent, grouped by letter in alphabetical order (Note: you may wish to add your own examples in the space provided.) Vowel Digraphs Vowel digraphs are two vowel letters together in the spelling of a word that represent a single sound (one vowel phoneme) For example, in the word “meat”, “ea” is a vowel digraph that represents the sound ee , whilst in the word “meet”, “ee” is a vowel digraph that also stands for the same vowel sound: ee This kind of thing can lead to a lot of confusion between spelling and sounds in English! digraph: sounds like: for example: my example(s): ai ei= e= = = paid, wait, fail, paint, gain said, again au or= = fraud, pause, autumn, August For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 203 18.48 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters au ar= = laugh, laughter ea ea ea ei= ee= e= = = = break, steak, great read, appeal, lead, clean, leaf, steal read, bread, dreampt, dead, dread _ ee ee= = wheel, peel, kneel, heel ei ei ee= ei= = = receive, deceive, receipt rein, vein eo e= = leopard, Leonard eu oy= = Freud ia aiy= = vial ie ie ie ie ai= iy= ee= aiy= = = = = tie, die, lie, pie field, yield, wield activities, believe, achieve variety io uh= = station, completion, ration iu iy= = valium, tedium, radium oa oa eu= or= = = oak, foam, loaf, encroach, road broad, abroad oe oe oe oo= eu= u= = = = shoe toe,=hoe, woe, foe, goes does, doesn’t oi oy= = avoid, void, coin, toilet oo oo oo oo oo= uu= u= eu= = = = = school, tool, fool, choose good, book, took, rook, hood blood, flood brooch ou ou au= oo= = = sound, loud, proud, round, house route, you, soup, group For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 204 18.49 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters ou ou ou uh= o= u= = = = famous, jealous, onerous cough, trough rough, enough, tough ue ue ue oo= e= uuw= = = = blue, true, sue guess, guest fuel, puerile, duel ui ui ui ai= oo= i= = = = guide, guidance juice, bruise build, building, guilt Most of the vowel sounds of English (18 out of 23) are represented by these 18 different vowel digraphs The sounds not represented are: a, i, er, eir, auw The last three of these sounds are represented by vowel clusters that use “r” (see below) Vowel Trigraphs and Quadgraphs It is possible, though fairly uncommon, to find more than two vowel letters together in an English word A group of three letters that make a single sound is called a trigraph For example: trigraph: sounds like: for example: my example(s): eau eu= = beau, eau de toilette eou uh= = outrageous, contageous iou iy= = industrious, harmonious, tedious A group of four letters that makes a single sound is called a quadgraph For example: quadgraph: sounds like: for example: my example(s): ueue oo= queue = Vowel Clusters that End with “-r” The “r” in the spelling helps to make the single vowel sound Note: the consonant sound r is not pronounced in loan words from French For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 205 18.50 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): air eir= = air,=fair, hair, chair, stair, pair ar ar ar ar= or= uh= = = = car, guitar, star, bar, shark war, wart, warm popular, singular, regular ear ear ear ear ar= iy= er= eir= = = = = heart ear, beard, dear, appear, fear learn, earn, search, pearl, heard _ bear, tear, wear, pear eer iy= = leer, peer, beer, engineer, steer _ er er er= uh= = = verb, herd, herb, her teacher, cleaner, hotter, mother iar aiy= = liar ier ier iy= aiy= = = tier, pier pliers ir er= = fir, bird, girl, whirl, twirl irr er= = whirr oar or= = oar, boar, hoar, hoard, board oor or= = door, floor, poor, moor or or or or= er= uh= = = = form, nor, for, conform, port, sword word, worm doctor, tractor, administrator our our our or= auw= uh= = = = pour our, flour, hour, dour, sour harbour, colour , splendour ur er= = hurl, churl, unfurl, curl For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 206 18.51 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters Other Vowel Clusters with “r” The “r” in the spelling helps to make the single vowel sound Note: the consonant sound r is not pronounced v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): aire eir= = millionaire, Claire are are ar= eir= = = are hare, rare, ware, care ere ere ere iy= er= eir= = = = here, mere were there, where ire aiy= = wire, fire, mire, tire oare or= = hoare ore or= = more, before, core, store, lore re uh= = centre, metre, litre, acre ure ure uuw= uh= = = sure brochure yre aiy= = tyre, lyre, pyre Vowel Clusters with “w” The “w” in the spelling helps to make the single vowel sound Note: the consonant sounds w and r are not pronounced v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): aw or= = paw, flaw, lawn, prawn, sawn ew oo= = grew, brew ow ow eu= au= = = know, grow, snow, show, tow, bow, own bow, cow, now, how, brown For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 207 18.52 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters owe eu= = owe ower auw= = flower, power, shower, tower Vowel Clusters with “y” The “y” in the spelling helps to make the single vowel sound Note: the consonant sounds y and r are not pronounced v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): ay ei= = pay, say, day, lay, May, play ayer eir= = prayer ey ey ei= ee= = = they, hey, prey key, monkey, alley eye ai= = eye oy oy= = toy, joy, annoy, employ, boy uay ee= = quay ye ai= = bye, rye, dye, tye Vowel Clusters with “gh” The “gh” in the spelling helps to make the single vowel sound Note: the consonant sounds g and h are not pronounced v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): augh or= = caught, taught eigh eigh ei= ai= = = weight, eight, weigh, neigh height For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 208 18.53 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Vowel Clusters igh ai= = high, sigh, night, right, flight, might, bright ough ough ough ough au= oo= or= eu= = = = = bough, plough, Slough through, throughout bought, thought, ought, sought, nought though, although Vowel Clusters with Other Consonant Letters Sometimes you may find a vowel cluster representing a vowel sound that employs a consonant letter other than “r”, “w”, “y”, or “gh” Below are a few examples In each case the consonant in the spelling is not pronounced (it is a silent letter) a) Vowel clusters with “b”: v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): oub au= doubt = b) Vowel clusters with “g”: v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): eig ei= reign = c) Vowel clusters with “l”: v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): al al or= ar= = = talk, walk, chalk, stalk half, calf, palm, calm, balm ol eu= = yolk oul uu= = could, would, should d) Vowel clusters with “t”: v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): out oo= ragout = For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 209 18.54 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Common Vowel Clusters A vowel cluster is a group of two or more vowel letters together in a word that represent a single vowel sound They can be initial (at the beginning of a word), medial (in the middle of a word), and final (at the end of a word) Focusing on vowel clusters and consonant clusters (see p.217) is useful if you want to look at some of the differences between spelling and sounds in English words Vowel clusters can be divided into eight categories: Vowel Digraphs (two vowel letters together make a single sound) digraph: sounds like: for example: ea ea ee ei ie oa oa oe oe oo oo ou ui ue ei= ee= e= ee= ee= ai= eu= or= eu= oo= oo= uu= au= ai= oo= paid, wait, fail, paint, gain read, appeal, lead, clean, leaf, steal read, bread, dreampt, dead, dread _ wheel, peel, kneel, heel receive, deceive, receipt tie, die, lie, pie oak, foam, loaf, encroach, road broad, abroad toe,=hoe, woe, foe, goes shoe school, tool, fool, choose good, book, took, rook, hood sound, loud, proud, round, house _ guide, guidance blue, true, sue = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = my example(s): Vowel Trigraphs and Quadgraphs v/cluster: sounds like: for example: eau iou ueue eu= iy= oo= beau, eau de toilette1 industrious, harmonious, tedious queue = = = my example(s): Vowel Clusters that End with “-r” (the consonant sound r is not pronounced) v/cluster: sounds like: for example: air ar ear ear ear eer er eir= ar= iy= er= eir= iy= er= air,=fair, hair, chair, stair, pair car, guitar, star, bar, shark ear, beard, dear, appear, fear learn, earn, search, pearl, heard bear, tear, wear, pear leer, peer, beer, engineer, steer verb, herd, herb, her = = = = = = = my example(s): in loan words from French For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 210 18.59 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Common Vowel Clusters er ier ir oar oor or our ur uh= iy= er= or= or= or= auw= er= = = = = = = = = teacher, cleaner, hotter, mother tier, pier fir, bird, girl, whirl, twirl oar, boar, hoar, hoard, board door, floor, poor, moor form, nor, for, conform, port, sword our, flour, hour, dour, sour hurl, churl, unfurl, curl Other Vowel Clusters with “r” (the consonant sound r is not pronounced) v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): are ere ere ere ore re ure ar= iy= eir= er= or= uh= uh= are here, mere there, where were more, before, core, store, lore centre, metre, litre, acre brochure = = = = = = = Vowel Clusters with “w” (the consonant sound w is not pronounced) v/cluster: sounds like: for example: aw ew ow ow or= oo= eu= au= paw, flaw, lawn, prawn, sawn grew, brew know, grow, snow, show, tow, bow, own bow, cow, now, how, brown = = = = my example(s): Vowel Clusters with “y” (the consonant sound y is not pronounced) v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): ay ey ey oy ei= ei= ee= oy= pay, say, day, lay, May, play they, hey, prey key, monkey, alley toy, joy, annoy, employ, boy = = = = Vowel Clusters with “gh” (the consonant sounds g and h are not pronounced) v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): augh eigh or= ei= caught, taught weight, eight, weigh, neigh = = For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 211 18.60 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet Spelling and Sounds – Common Vowel Clusters igh ough ough ai= or= oo= = = = high, sigh, night, right, flight, might, bright bought, thought, ought, sought, nought through, throughout Vowel Clusters with Other Consonant Letters (the consonant sounds are not pronounced) v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): oub eig al al ol oul out au= ei= or= ar= eu= uu= oo= doubt reign talk, walk, chalk, stalk half, calf, palm, calm, balm yolk could, would, should ragout = = = = = = = For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 212 18.61 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet List of Vowel Clusters – In Alphabetical Order a v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): ai air aire al al ar ar ar are are au au augh aw ay ayer ei= e= eir= eir= or= ar= ar= or= uh= ar= eir= or= ar= or= or= ei= eir= paid, wait, fail, paint, gain said, again air,=fair, hair, chair, stair, pair millionaire,=Claire talk, walk, chalk, stalk half, calf, palm, calm, balm car, guitar, star, bar, shark war, wart, warm popular, singular, regular are hare, rare, ware, care fraud, pause, autumn, August laugh, laughter caught, taught paw, flaw, lawn, prawn, sawn pay, say, day, lay, May, play prayer = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Phonemes represented by vowel clusters beginning with the letter “a”: = ei= e= eir= ar= or= uh= e v/cluster: sounds like: for example: ea ea ea ear ear ear ear eau ee eer ei ei eig eigh eigh ei= ee= e= ar= iy= er= eir= eu= ee= iy= ee= ei= ei= ei= ai= break, steak, great read, appeal, lead, clean, leaf, steal read, bread, dreampt, dead, dread _ heart ear, beard, dear, appear, fear learn, earn, search, pearl, heard _ bear, tear, wear, pear beau, eau de toilette wheel, peel, kneel, heel leer, peer, beer, engineer, steer _ receive, deceive, receipt rein, vein reign weight, eight, weigh, neigh height = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = my example(s): in loan words from French For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 213 18.55 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet List of Vowel Clusters – In Alphabetical Order eo eou er er ere ere ere eu ew ey ey eye e= uh= er= uh= iy= er= eir= oy= oo= ei= ee= ai= = = = = = = = = = = = = leopard, Leonard outrageous verb, herd, herb, her teacher, cleaner, hotter, mother _ here, mere were there, where Freud grew, brew they, hey, prey key, monkey, alley eye Phonemes represented by vowel clusters beginning with the letter “e”: = ei= ee= e= iy= ar= er= eir= ai= oy= i oo= eu uh v/cluster: sounds like: for example: ia iar ie ie ie ie ier ier igh io iou ir ire irr iu aiy= aiy= ai= iy= ee= aiy= iy= aiy= ai= uh= iy= er aiy= er= iy= bias liar tie, die, lie, pie field, yield, wield activities, believe, achieve variety tier, pier pliers high, sigh, night, right, flight, might, bright station, completion, ration industrious, harmonious, tedious, contagious _ fir, bird, girl, whirl, twirl wire, fire, mire, tire whirr valium, tedium, radium = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = my example(s): Phonemes represented by vowel clusters beginning with the letter “i”: = iy= ai= ee= aiy= uh= er o v/cluster: sounds like: for example: oa oa eu= or= oak, foam, loaf, encroach, road broad, abroad = = my example(s): For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 214 18.56 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet List of Vowel Clusters – In Alphabetical Order or= or= oo= eu= u= oy= eu= oo= uu= u= eu= or= or= er= uh= or= au= oo= o= u= uh= au= au= oo= or= eu= uu= or= auw= uh= oo= eu= au= eu= auw= oy= oar oare oe oe oe oi ol oo oo oo oo oor or or or ore ou ou ou ou ou oub ough ough ough ough oul our our our out ow ow owe ower oy = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = oar, boar, hoar, hoard, board hoare shoe toe,=hoe, woe, foe, goes does, doesn’t avoid, void, coin, toilet yolk school, tool, fool, choose good, book, took, rook, hood blood, flood brooch door, floor, poor, moor form, nor, for, conform, port, sword word, worm doctor, tractor, administrator more, before, core, store, lore sound, loud, proud, round, house _ route, you, soup, group cough, trough rough, enough, tough famous, jealous, onerous doubt bough, plough, Slough through, throughout bought, thought, ought, sought, nought though, although could, would, should pour our, flour, hour, dour, sour harbour, colour , splendour ragout know, grow, snow, show, tow, bow, own _ bow, cow, now how, brown owe flower, power, shower, tower toy, joy, annoy, employ, boy Phonemes represented by vowel clusters beginning with the letter “o”: = eu r or oo u oy uu uh au o auw er v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): re uh= centre, metre, litre, acre = For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 215 18.57 Talk a Lot Learn the Clear Alphabet List of Vowel Clusters – In Alphabetical Order u v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): uay ue ue ue ueue ui ui ui ur ure ure ee= oo= e= uuw= oo= ai= oo= i= er= uuw= uh= quay blue, true, sue guess, guest fuel, puerile, duel queue guide, guidance juice, bruise build, building, guilt hurl, churl, unfurl, curl sure brochure = = = = = = = = = = = Phonemes represented by vowel clusters beginning with the letter “u”: = y oo i e uuw uh er ee oo v/cluster: sounds like: for example: my example(s): ye yre ai= aiy= bye, rye, dye, tye tyre, lyre, pyre = = Phonemes represented by vowel clusters beginning with the letter “y”: = aiy For more fun worksheets, games and quizzes log onto www.englishbanana.com now! Talk a Lot Elementary English Banana.com 216 18.58