lesson
Updated 6 days ago Β· 3 views
Look at the word rain. If you try to say each letter by itself β /r/ /a/ /i/ /n/ β it sounds like a confused robot!
That is because the letters a and i join forces to make a vowel digraph, which is when two vowel letters work together to make one single sound.
πInteractive diagram
So how do you know what sound the letters ai make when they stand side by side?
The "ai" Vowel Team
When ai sit together inside a word, they team up to say the long A sound (/Δ/), just like saying the letter's own name.
πInteractive diagram
Let's tap out the sounds in paint: /p/ ... /Δ/ ... /n/ ... /t/ blends together to make paint!
What happens if we switch out the letters for ea instead?
The "ea" Vowel Team
The pair ea most often teams up to make the long E sound (/Δ/), exactly like the vowel sound in leaf.
πInteractive diagram
Look at beach: you see five letters, but you only make three sounds because ea is one team and ch is another!