Chapter 7
Vowel Movement 3: Spelling Consonants
“I’ve just had the most awful time,” said a man to his colleagues. “First I got angina pectoris, then arteriosclerosis. Just as I was recovering, I got psoriasis. They gave me several hypodermics of antibiotics, and to top it all, tonsillitis was followed by appendectomy.”
“Wow! How did you pull through?” his colleagues asked in a sympathetic manner.
“I don’t know,” the man replied. “Toughest spelling test I ever had.”
Hit the Ground Running
Keep those spelling muscles flexed! Underline the incorrectly spelled word in each line and correct it. Spoiler Warning: These are thorny words, but I know you’re up to the challenge.
Answers
1. category
2. environment
3. hemorrhage
4. niece
5. privilege
6. changeable
7. omitted
8. grammar
9. arguing
10. cemetery
11. height
12. irritable
13. unanimous
14. masculine
15. technique
Now that you’ve learned many vowel sounds, let’s do the same with some consonant sounds. Remember: the more sounds you master, the more bang you get for your spelling buck.
No English word ends with v. The ending is always ve, as in love, receive, and sleeve.
Spelling the Sound /k/
buccaneer or buckaneer? racoon or raccoon? mica or micca? Or maybe micka? How about mika?k or c?
k or cc?
k or k?
k or ck?
k or cc?
k or k?
k or ck?
It’s all so confusing! But not to worry—you’ll soon have the answer to this vexing question that’s been keeping you up at night. The /k/ sound can be spelled in any one of four ways: c, cc, k, ck.
/k/ Spelled c
“C” is the most common spelling for “k,” and you can find it anywhere in a word. Here are some examples:
| /k/ spelled c at the beginning of a word | /k/ spelled c in the middle of a word | /k/ spelled c at the end of a word |
|---|---|---|
| compliment | actor | public |
| confident | bacon | arsenic |
/k/ Spelled cc
The c is often doubled to keep the vowel short, as in these words: stucco, Mecca, baccalaureate, tobacco, occupy.
/k/ Spelled k or ck
K or ck can be used for the sound of c. How can you tell? These two patterns are often used before an e, i, or y.
| /k/ Spelled k Before e | /k/ Spelled k Before i | /k/ Spelled k Before y |
|---|---|---|
| sketch | kinship | tricky |
| token | skinny | flaky |
| keratosis | dyskinesia | kyphosis |
| /k/ Spelled ck Before e | /k/ Spelled ck Before i | /k/ Spelled ck Before y |
| darkest | rocking | lucky |
| blackest | ducking | finicky |
| frolicked | picking | sticky |
And while we’re here, ck always follows a short vowel, as these examples show: clock, wrecks, and sack. The letter k follows any other sound, as shown in these examples: cork, duke, and peek.
Yak is an exception, but unless you’ve decided to become a yak farmer in a remote Himalayas village, you’re in the clear ignoring this.
Try It in Ink
Complete the following crossword puzzle to practice spelling words with /k/. This puzzle uses ten words. Choose from the following twelve words:
chaos
choleric
turmeric
concierge
conjugal
comprise
connoisseur
mackintosh
cactus
cocoa
succulent
flaky
choleric
turmeric
concierge
conjugal
comprise
connoisseur
mackintosh
cactus
cocoa
succulent
flaky
| ACROSS | DOWN | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | spice | 2 | made of |
| 5 | person who has charge of the entrance to a building | 3 | raincoat |
| 4 | moist, juicy | ||
| 6 | expert | 5 | relating to marriage, especially the relations of a husband and wife |
| 8 | filled with rage | ||
| 7 | having small, thin pieces | ||
| 8 | desert plant | ||
Answers
Spelling the Sound /j/
Why is it “Here comes the judge” rather than “Here comes the juje” or even “Here comes the juge”? Ah, it’s another of the delightful vagaries of English, that tricky vixen. As with /k/, we’re got some variations when it comes to the sound /j/: j, g, and dge. They can all carry the /j/ sound.
/j/ Spelled j
The letter j is usually used for the /j/ sound (notice: not always) if it is followed by an a, o, or u. Check out these examples:
| /j/ Spelled j Before a | /j/ Spelled j Before o | /j/ Spelled j Before u |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin | jogging | justified |
| Japan | majority | injured |
| adjacent | job | juvenile |
/j/ Spelled g
The letter g is usually used to give the /j/ sound before an e, i, or y, as the following examples show.
| /j/ Spelled g Before e | /j/ Spelled g Before i | /j/ Spelled g Before y |
|---|---|---|
| gentle | aging | Egyptologist |
| gem | ginger | gymnasium |
/j/ Spelled dge
The letters dge are usually used if /j/ follows a short vowel sound, as the following examples show: judge, budget, gadget, and partridge.
The letters j, v, k, w, and x are never doubled.
You Deserve a Break
Yes, you do, and completing a quick puzzle is a lot less fattening than reaching for the chips and dip. Underline the incorrectly spelled word in each pair and correct it. Use the phonics guidelines that you just learned.
| 1. | galousie | jalousie | _____ |
| 2. | aging | ajing | _____ |
| 3. | algebra | aljebra | _____ |
| 4. | ginjer | ginger | _____ |
| 5. | adjacent | adjasent | _____ |
| 6. | jymnasium | gymnasium | _____ |
| 7. | jaguar | gaguar | _____ |
| 8. | smudge | smuge | _____ |
| 9. | buget | budget | _____ |
| 10. | majority | magority | _____ |
Answers: 1. jalousie; 2. aging; 3. algebra; 4. ginger; 5. adjacent; 6. gymnasium; 7. jaguar; 8. smudge; 9. budget; 10. majority.
Spelling the Sound /ch/
Are you getting a little twitchy with all this spelling stuff? Not to worry. Even though the sound /ch/ can be spelled two ways—tch and ch—the rule is simple: it’s spelled tch after a short vowel and ch in any other instance. Here are some examples: witch, satchel, botch, kitchen, hatchet, and escutcheon.
I saved the best for last: the exceptions. Sadly, there are a handful, including which, rich, much, such, touch, bachelor, attach, sandwich, and ostrich.
The sound /kw/ is always spelled qu, so that’s easy. For instance: quack, queasy, quibble, qualification, quantity, quarry, quay, quartz, and quadrant.
Shaken, Not Stirred
Sometimes it’s tricky figuring out how to spell a word because of its sound. Often, two or more letters seem to blend together. You’re not hearing wrong: they are blending together. Not surprisingly, we call these blends. Clever, eh? If you can hear all the letters in the blends, the odds are good that you’ll be able to spell the word correctly. Here are some of the most common blends to watch for as you encounter complex words.
| Blend | Examples |
|---|---|
| bl | blanket, blunder |
| br | broken, Braille, brusque |
| ch | chafe, chaise lounge, chaos |
| cl | climate, clique |
| cr | cracker, credence, criteria |
| dr | dreadful, drinkable |
| fl | flood, florescent, flourish |
| fr | refrigerator, French |
| gl | globe, glamorous, glimpse |
| gr | group, Grecian |
| pl | platform, plankton, plateau |
| pr | protect, preempt, |
| sc | scratch, scorch, premier, prerequisite |
| scr | screech |
| sh | shred |
| sk | sketch |
| st | stripe, struggling |
| sw | swindle |
| th | throat |
| tr | transportation, tremendous, treasure |
| tw | twinkle |
Find the Blend
Circle the blends in these words:
1. broach
2. grievous
3. plausible
4. playwright
5. criticize
6. claret
7. drudgery
8. fluctuate
9. cliché
10. cholesterol
11. breath
12. chasm
13. drought
14. glossary
15. breathe
Answers: 1. broach; 2. grievous; 3. plausible; 4. playwright; 5. criticize; 6. claret; 7. drudgery; 8. fluctuate; 9. cliché; 10. cholesterol; 11. breath; 12. chasm; 13. drought; 14. glossary; 15. breathe.
Find the Word
Now, find these fifteen words in the word find puzzle. The words can be listed up, down, or on the diagonal. Each word contains an initial blend.
Britain
procession
broccoli
gruesome
choose
Briton
grip
procrastinate
clique
crescendo
grotesque
prominent
pledge
fluent
grudge
procession
broccoli
gruesome
choose
Briton
grip
procrastinate
clique
crescendo
grotesque
prominent
pledge
fluent
grudge
(puzzle on following page)
Answers
Break Dancing
Along with listening for blends, you can listen for syllables. A syllable is a single unit of sound including a vowel. Breaking a word into its parts can help you hear each part.
| 1-Syllable Word | 2-Syllable Word | 3-Syllable Word |
|---|---|---|
| nice | nice-ly | hos-pi-tal |
| 4-Syllable Word | 5-Syllable Word | |
| ca-tas-tro-phe | u-ni-ver-si-ty |
Divide and Conquer
Sort the following words according to the number of syllables they have.
reconnaissance
evangelism
particular
riskiness
subterranean
seize
vacation
cache
reign
verbatim
rhythm
extravagant
rhyme
vociferous
technician
conciliatory
sociable
apparently
unique
sleazy
vein
vacuum
revile
approximately
condominium
evangelism
particular
riskiness
subterranean
seize
vacation
cache
reign
verbatim
rhythm
extravagant
rhyme
vociferous
technician
conciliatory
sociable
apparently
unique
sleazy
vein
vacuum
revile
approximately
condominium
Answers
| 1-Syllable Word | 2-Syllable Word | 3-Syllable Word |
|---|---|---|
| reign | revile | vacation |
| rhyme | rhythm | technician |
| vein | vacuum | riskiness |
| seize | sleazy | sociable |
| cache | unique | verbatim |
| 4-Syllable Word | 5-Syllable Word | |
| apparently | approximately | |
| particular | conciliatory | |
| reconnaissance | evangelism | |
| extravagant | subterranean | |
| vociferous | condominium |
Cut to the Chase
Learning to spell consonant sounds, including /k/, /j/, /ch/, and blends can help you learn how to spell many everyday words. So can dividing a word into its consonants because that helps you hear each sound. Do a lot of word puzzles to get even more familiar with the quirks of English spelling.