Blends at the Start: CCVC Words

Read words that begin with two consonants, like stop and flag.

Sometimes two consonants sit side by side at the start of a word, and you hear both sounds. This is called a blend. Common blends are st, sp, fl, cl, gr, tr, and br. Take 'slip'. Do not drop a sound. Say /s/ and /l/ quickly together: /sl/.

Then add the rest: /sl/ /i/ /p/, slip. If you say only /s/, you get 'sip', and if you say only /l/, you get 'lip'. Those are different words! Both sounds matter. Words with a blend at the start are called CCVC words.

• 1A blend is two consonants where you hear both sounds.
• 2Say the blend sounds quickly together.
• 3Dropping a sound can change the word.