The letter g can make two different sounds. One is a hard-g sound, which is pronounced "guh." The other is a soft-g sound, which is pronounced "juh," like the letter j.
When a g is followed by an e, i, or y in a word, then it usually makes a soft-g sound.
Example:
The hamster's cage was full of toys.
Yuna watched the baby giraffe hide behind its mom.
The students ran back and forth across the gym.
The letter c can make two different sounds. One is a hard-c sound, which is pronounced "kuh," like the letter k. The other is a soft-c sound, which is pronounced "suh," like the letter s.
When a c is followed by an e, i, or y in a word, then it usually makes a soft-c sound.
Example:
One penny is equal to one cent.
The little mouse got lost in the big city.
Lewis crashed his bicycle on his way home.
When a one-syllable word has a short-vowel sound and ends with a hard-k ("kuh") sound, it usually ends with the letters ck.
Example:
The black cat meowed for more fish.
Redbeard broke the lock to the treasure chest.
Instead of a dog, Rey had a pet rock.
R-controlled vowels
When the letter r comes after a vowel, it changes how the vowel sounds.
The vowel a + r make the sound -ar like in "car."
The vowel o + r make the sound -or, like in "horn."
The vowels i, e, and u + r all make the same sound -er, but are used in different words, like "bird," "herd," and "fur."
Example:
The marbles rolled all over the floor.
Ravi quickly drank a glass of water.
The horse ate a carrot from my hand.
The leaf landed on the girl's head.
Diego only liked purple grapes, not green ones.
Long vowels
A word with a long vowel sound means that the vowel in the word says its name. Some patterns for words with long vowel sounds are below.
Example:
Some words that follow this pattern are take, here, tire, bone, and cute.
Example:
Some words that follow this pattern are paper, even, pilot, robot, and human.
Example:
ai makes a long-a sound, like in paid, laid, and braid.
ea and ee make a long-e sound, like in neat, beat, free, and tree.
ie makes a long-i sound, like in tie, pie, and die.
oa makes a long-o sound, like in boat, coat, and float.
ui and ue make a long-u sound, like in suit, fruit, blue, and clue.
Diphthongs
Diphthongs are two vowel sounds together in one syllable.
The diphthongs, ou and ow, make the same sound, but they are used in different words.
If the "ou" sound is at the beginning or middle
of a word, either ou or ow can be used, so it's important to remember the spelling.
If the "ou" sound is at the end of a word, use ow.
Example:
The brown cow was eating in the field.
Dr. Pierce lives somewhere around here.
The diphthongs, oi and oy, make the same sound, but they are used in different words.
If the "oi" sound is at the beginning or middle
of a word, then use oi.
If the "oi" sound is at the end of a word, use oy.
2nd Grade Writing - Spelling Patterns Lesson