More examples: Words ending in -dge

One way of spelling word with a long vowel sound is with a split digraph, for example <i>a-e</i> (like in <i>cage</i>). <br><br>However, in these <i>-dge</i> words, the addition of the letter <i>d</i> turns the <i>long vowel sound</i> at the start of the word into a <i>short vowel sound</i>. The letter <i>d</i> stops the vowel at the start of the word from saying its name. For example, the first syllable of <i>badge</i> is pronounced <i>bad</i> not <i> bade</i> and the first syllable of <i>sledge</i> is pronounced <i>sled</i> not <i>sleed</i>. <br><br> At the end of these words, the letter combination <i>-dge</i> creates a soft <i>/j/</i> sound. Click on the speaker icons to hear the <i>short vowel sound</i>and soft <i>/j/</i> sound in each word.

badge	She pinned her badge to her cardigan.
cadge	How did you manage to cadge a lift in a taxi?
edge	There is a sheer drop at the cliff edge.
dredge	They started to dredge the river. *
hedge	This garden hedge grows very fast.
ledge	The ledge was high up. *
sledge	My children love to sledge in the snow.
wedge	She cut a wedge of lemon for her drink.
ridge	You can see for miles from the mountain ridge.
dodge	He had to dodge the ball quickly.
lodge	The climbers found shelter in a lodge.
budge	The door was stuck and wouldn't budge.
fudge	The boy ordered a chocolate fudge sundae. *
grudge	She tried not to hold a grudge.
judge	The judge sent him to jail for a year.
nudge	Mum tried to nudge her towards the right answer.
smudge	My printer is leaving a black smudge on each page.
trudge	The tired walkers will trudge the last mile home.
cartridge	The soldier had one cartridge left in his rifle.