Digraphs in English

Hello amigringo!

Digraphs are combinations of two letters that produce a single sound (phoneme). They can be consonant digraphs or vowel digraphs, producing a single consonant sound or a single vowel sound. They are extremely frequent in English, such as the words "phone" or "teacher", where "ph"/f/ only represents one sound (phoneme) or "ea"/i:/ only represents one sound (phoneme).

Consonant digraphs:

Ch → /tʃ/: Chair; Chore; Chain;

Sh → /ʃ/: Shower; Shoe; Sheet;

Th → /θ/: Think; Thin; Thought;

/ð/: The; This; That;

Wh → /ʍ/: What; where; When;

Ph → /f/: Phone; Physics; Photography;

Ng → /ŋ/: Sing; Long; Song;

/ŋɡ/: Finger; Anger; Hunger;

Ck → /k/: Check; Back; Knock;

Kn → /n/: Knock; Knee; Knife;

Vowel digraphs:

Ai → /eɪ/: Rain; Train; Main;

Ee → /iː/: See; Tree; Three;

Ea → /iː/: Eat; Team; Seat;

/ɛ/: Feather; Bread; Head;

/eɪ/: Steak; Break; Great;

Oa → /oʊ/: Coat; Boat; Road;

Ou → /aʊ/: Out; Shout; House;

/oʊ/: Shoulder; Soul; Though;

/ʌ/: Young; Country; Double;

/uː/: Soup; Group; Troup;

Ay → /eɪ/: May; Day; Play;

Ie → /aɪ/: Die; Pie; Tie;

/iː/: Chief; Field; Thief;

/ɪə/: Fierce; Hear; Ear;

Ey → /iː/: Monkey; Donkey; Money;

/eɪ/: Grey; They; Prey;

Oo → /uː/: Moon; Food; School;

/ʊ/: Foot; Good; Book;

/ʌ/: Flood; Blood;

It might be confusing sometimes how a some words have a similar writing but a different pronunciation. Regardless, practice makes it easier.

Is it easier know to read and write in English? Have you learned all the digraphs in English? I hope so! If you want to practice with me, just book a lesson!