Syllables: vowel and consonant patterns

In words of more than one syllable, the sound of a vowel can be decided by the pattern of vowels and consonants.

Remember the difference between long and short vowels:

Short vowels:


alligator	engine	insect	octopus	umbrella

Long vowels:


ape	evening	ice-cream	oval	unicorn

Study the words in this table:

fatter
later

better
Peter

dinner
diner

rocket
broken

supper
super

1) Read each pair of words out loud.
2) Look at the number of consonants between the vowels.
3) Read each word again and listen to the first vowel sound.
Is it long or short?

Now try these.
Look at each word, read it aloud and listen for the sound of the first vowel.
Select Long for a long sound and Short for a short sound

	Select Long or Short sound
dagger	long short
fatal	long short
zero	long short
better	long short
ticker	long short
icon	long short
focus	long short
bottom	long short
music	long short
public	long short

Skip this exercise and go to the next part of this unit: More on vowel and consonant patterns. *

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Unit 8: Syllables: vowel and consonant patterns

Page 3 of 8

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