Single Consonants with More Than One Sound

 

There are some single consonants that have more than one sound.  Here are six single consonants that have more than one sound.

 

C

The letter /c/ in English has no sound of its own.  It borrows two different sounds from the consonant /k/ and /s/. 

            When /c/ sounds like /k/, it is called a hard sound of /c/. 

            When /c/ sounds like /s/, it is called a soft sound of /c/. 

 

Sound of /C/ Rule:

When c is followed by e, i, or y it is usually the soft sound or /s/ sound.  When c is followed by other vowels or consonants, it is usually the hard sound of /k/ sound.

 

Examples:

 

            Soft Sound:     c followed by e

                        cease, ceiling, celebrate, celery, cell

 

            Soft Sound:     c followed by i

                        cider, cinema, citrus, city, civil

 

            Soft Sound:     c followed by y

                        cyanide, cyber, cycle, Cyprus, cypher

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here!

 

Test Yourself.  What is the sound of c in each of the following words?

 

            circle, circus, cyclone, cynic

 

            Click here to check your answers.  Need to link.

 

Practice

 

African Elephant

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the hard sound or soft sound of c.  Write your answers down.  Remember, c must be a single consonant and not part of a digraph.  Click here to begin.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

American Badger

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the hard sound of soft sound of c.  Write your answers down.  Remember, c must be a single consonant and not part of a digraph.  Click here to begin.

 

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here!

 

Arctic Hare

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the hard sound of soft sound of c.  Write your answers down.  Remember, c must be a single consonant and not part of a digraph.  Click here to begin.

 

           Click here to check your answers.

           

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here!

 

G

 

The letter /g/ also has two different sounds. It too has a hard and a soft sound. 

            The hard sound of g is /g/ as in go.  To check this sound, click here.

            The soft sound of g is /j/ as in pigeon.  To check this sound, click here.

 

Sound of /G/ Rule:

When g is followed by e, i, or y it is usually the soft sound or /j/ sound.  When g is followed by other vowels or consonants, it is usually the hard sound of /g/ sound.  Although this is a standard rule for the sound of g, there are many, many exceptions.

 

Examples

 

            Soft Sound:     g followed by e

                        general, generous, Geneva, genuine, gentleman

 

            Soft Sound:     g followed by i

                        giant, ginger, ginseng, gist, giraffe

 

            Soft Sound:     g followed by y

                        gymnast, gyp, gyrate, gyroscope, gypsum

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here!

 

Test Yourself.  What is the sound of g in each of the following words?

 

            geometry, gave, gigantic, golf, pig

 

            Click here to check your answers.  Need to link.

 

Practice

 

Giraffe

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the hard sound or soft sound of g.  Write your answers down.  Remember, g must be a single consonant and not part of a digraph.  Click here to begin.

 

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Gorilla

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the hard sound or soft sound of g.  Write your answers down.  Remember, g must be a single consonant and not part of a digraph.  Click here to begin.

 

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !

 

Orangutan

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the hard sound or soft sound of g.  Write your answers down.  Remember, g must be a single consonant and not part of a digraph.  Click here to begin.

 

             Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !

 

D

 

The letter d in English is listed as a consonant that has more than one sound; however, most of the time, the sound of d in a word is /d/. 

 

In very few words, the letter d has another, very different, sound /j/.  Notice this sound in the words soldier, education, schedule. 

 

Sounds of /D/

 

Examples:  There are hundreds of words that have the /d/ sound.  Click on either of the underlined links to hear this sound. Check more for sounds of consonants.

 

Examples:  There are very few words where d has the /j/ sound: education, schedule, soldier.  Click on the link to look these words up in a dictionary. Click here or here!

 

Practice

 

African Wild Dog

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /d/ or /j/ sound of d.  Write your answers down.  Remember, d must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  It also cannot be a silent consonant. Click here to begin!

           

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Duck-Billed Platypus

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /d/ or /j/ sound of d.  Write your answers down.  Remember, d must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  It also cannot be a silent consonant. Click here to begin!

           

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Eland

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /d/ or /j/ sound of d.  Write your answers down.  Remember, d must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  It also cannot be a silent consonant. Click here to begin!

           

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Q (u)

 

The letter q in English is another consonant that has no sound of its own.  Primarily, q borrows sounds from k.  Q is always used with the vowel u to create two distinct sounds:  /kw/ and /k/.

 

Sounds of /Q/

 

The /kw/ sound of q is by far the most common.  

Examples: This sound is often heard in words that begin with q, such as quiet, queen, and quick. 

 

The /k/ sound of q is found much less often.

Examples: The /k/ sound of q is often heard in words that are spelled -que, as in antique and plaque.

 

Practice

 

Flying Squirrel

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /kw/ or /k/ sound of d.  Write your answers down.  Remember, d must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  It also cannot be a silent consonant.  Click here to begin!

           

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

American Porcupine

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /kw/ or /k/ sound of d.  Write your answers down.  Remember, d must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  It also cannot be a silent consonant.  Click here to begin!

Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Giant Anteaters

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /kw/ or /k/ sound of d.  Write your answers down.  Remember, d must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  It also cannot be a silent consonant.  Click here to begin!    

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

S

 

Although there are four sounds of s, two are most common /s/ and /z/. 

 

Sound of /S/

 

Examples:  The /s/ sound can be heard in the words see, say, some. 

 

 Sound of /Z/

 

Examples:  The /z/ sound of s is also very common.  It is often heard in word endings, especially words that end in -es (rages) and -ies (nineties.  Other patterns to look for that often result in the /z/ sound of s is a vowel-s pattern (has).

 

Practice

 

Hippopotamus

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /s/ or /z/ sound of s.  Write your answers down.  Remember, s must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  Click here to begin!

           

            Click here to check your answers.

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Black-Footed Ferret

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /s/ or /z/ sound of s.  Write your answers down.  Remember, s must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  Click here to begin!

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Bobcat

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /s/ or /z/ sound of s.  Write your answers down.  Remember, s must be a single consonant, and not part of a blend or verb ending.  Click here to begin!    

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

X

 

X is the third consonant that has no sound of its own.  It borrows some unusual sounds from other consonants.  The most common sound of x is /ks/.  Another sound of x is /gz/ although this sound is not common.  The last sound of x is the /z/ sound.  There are only a very few words where this sound can be heard.

 

Sound of /KS/

 

Examples:  The /ks/ sound can be heard in the words mix and next. 

 

Sound of /GZ/

 

Examples:  The /gz/ sound of x is not very common.  Sometimes, it can be heard in words that begin with ex- like the word exam.  (However, many words that begin with -ex have the /ks/ sound.)  Other examples of the /gz/ sound are: example, exact, exaggerate, examine. 

 

Sound of /Z/

Examples:  The /z/ sound of x is not very common.  Here are two examples of this sound: xylophone and Xerox (first x).

 

Practice

 

Lynx

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain the /ks/, /gz/ or /z/ sound of x.  Write your answers down.  Click here to begin!

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Giant Panda

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain either the /ks/, /gz/ or /z/ sound of x.  Write your answers down.  Click here to begin!  

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!

 

Oryx

Read the paragraph/s and identify the words that contain the /ks/, /gz/ or /z/ sound of x.  Write your answers down.  Click here to begin!

 

            Don't know what some of the words mean?  Click here or here !!