We already know that English grammar is a vast subject and it is made up of all the vowels and consonants along with its combination. Sometimes the words begin with 2 or 3 letter consonants that take place by blending. In this English phonics session, you would be able to define the term – consonant blends and also have a good look at some different kind of words pronunciation.
In the initial stages, you need to know about Vowels and consonants.
Vowels:
In English grammar, a vowel is basically speech sound that is created by allowing the breath to flow out of the mouth without closing your mouth or throat. The letters that make a set of vowels are a, e, i, o, u.
Consonants:
In the grammar context, a consonant is a speech sound that is partially made by blocking the flow of air through the mouth. The letters that represent consonants are b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
| Note: The 26 alphabets are divided into 5 vowels and 21 consonants. |
Let’s get to know what are the consonant clusters in English
What are Consonant Clusters?
Basically, the consonant cluster is a combination or groups of consonants which come together in a word and have no vowel in between. These consonant clusters are sometimes also called as the consonant blend. The essential part to consider is while you are reading out the word or the cluster you need to pronounce it individually. You would observe that in some consonant clusters the sounds get reduced or dropped.
Examples of Consonant Clusters
Let’s have a look at the 2 – Letter Blends:
Here are some of the most common 2 – letter consonant clusters such as – bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, sc, sk, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, and tw.
Here are some of the most common 3 – letter consonant clusters such as Sch, Shr, Spl, Squ, Thr, Spr, Scr, Sph.
Following is a list of words with common consonant clusters.
- Bl: blank, black, blue, blister, blight, blast, bloom, bluff, blink, blast
- Fr: fried, French, frank, frolic, frigid, friend, freak, frozen, frill, fraction, fragment
- St: stare, store, stir, sty, stick, stuck, stroke, state, statement, still, stiff, storm, stammer
- Cl: cluster, cloister, clip, clown, clothes, clamp, close, clear, clever, class
- Br: Bread, Break, Breakfast, Broom, Brisk, Brain, Bracket, Brush, Brim
- Fl: Flag, Flash, Flim, Flask, Floss, Flamingo, Fleet, Flatter, Fluff
- Gl: Glass, Gleam, Glitter, Glimpse
- Pl: Plush, Plum, Platipus, Plain, Platter, Plaque
- Sl: Slate, Slum, Slush, Slim, Slash, Slam
- Cr: Crest, Cream, Create, Crease
- Dr: Drone, Drum, Drumstick, Dress, Dream, Draf, Dragon
Once you have understood the clusters, you can have a look at the example sentences that make use of these words.
- The black cat sliding across the ice.
- The class played flag football on the muddy ground.
- The brown cow cried out for her friend.
- Emily was happy with the results of the trial.
- She scouted for skunks and snails.
- The smoke spread over the twinkling town.
- The students swam in the ocean.
Conclusion:
So, now you know that in English the consonant cluster occurs at the beginning (which is also known as the initial consonant cluster). When the cluster occurs in the middle of the word then it is called the medial cluster and if it occurs at the end of the syllable then it is called the consonant cluster. You already explored the examples which show how the different clusters occur at different positions.
If you still have some doubts regarding the consonant cluster you can get back to us through our comment section. You can visit the website Englishbix and stay tuned to it to get the latest concepts of the English language.
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