Digraphs and trigraphs: two letters, one sound
A digraph is two letters that make one sound, like sh in ship or ai in rain. A trigraph is three letters that make one sound, like igh in night. Here you can hear every digraph and trigraph your child meets in Reception, see how split digraphs like a-e work, and learn how to spot them in words.
Two letters, s and h, join up to make one sound.
What is a digraph? Letters, sounds and graphemes
Two words come up again and again in phonics. A phoneme is a sound you hear in a spoken word. A grapheme is the letter, or group of letters, that writes that sound down. In “dog”, every sound is written with one letter. In “ship”, the first sound is written with two: s and h together make “sh”.
Spoken English has about 44 sounds, depending on accent, but only 26 letters. So some sounds have to be written with more than one letter. A grapheme made of two letters that make one sound is a digraph (from the Greek for “two” and “writing”). A grapheme made of three letters is a trigraph.
- 26letters in the alphabet
- 44sounds in English, roughly
- 2letters, one sound: a digraph
- 3letters, one sound: a trigraph
This is why counting letters and counting sounds give different answers. “Night” has five letters but only three sounds: n, igh, t. “Bridge” has six letters and four sounds: b, r, i, dge. Try a few words below, and notice how the letters of each sound draw together.
It matters because reading is turning letters into sounds and blending them into a word. A child who reads s-h-i-p one letter at a time gets stuck. A child who spots “sh” first can say sh-i-p, and hear “ship”. If you want to hear each single letter sound said cleanly first, our guide to pure sounds has the full sound chart.
ship has 4 letters. How many sounds?
Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th, ng and ck
Consonant digraphs are two consonant letters that make one sound. The first ones most children meet are sh (ship), ch (chin), th (thin) and ng (ring). Each is one sound, so it is said as one sound: “sh”, not “s” then “h”.
th has two sounds
Say “thin”, then “this”, with your hand on your throat. In “thin” only air comes out. In “this” your voice buzzes too. Both are written th, so children learn the same digraph for both. If one doesn’t make a word they know, they can try the other.
ng is one sound, with no g on the end
ng is made at the back of the mouth, like a hum through the nose. In “sing”, there is no separate “g” at the end, so try not to say “sin-guh”.
ck, ll, ss, ff and zz
ck is a digraph: two letters, one “k” sound, usually straight after a short vowel, as in duck, sock and back. Doubled letters work the same way. The ll in bell, ss in kiss, ff in off and zz in buzz each make one sound, the same as the single letter. wh, as in wheel and when, sounds like w in most UK accents.
qu, x and nk: letters that join two sounds
These are often taught alongside digraphs, but they work the other way round. qu is two letters making two sounds blended together, “kw”, as in queen. x is one letter making two sounds, “ks”, as in box. nk is the ng sound followed by k, as in sink. Schools teach them as one unit because the letters almost always come together, which makes reading easier.
Hand on your throat, then tap each word.
Vowel digraphs and trigraphs list, with sounds
Vowel digraphs are two letters that make one vowel sound. The first ones children usually learn are ai (rain), ee (tree), oa (boat), oo (moon and book), ar (car), or (fork), ur (turn), ow (cow), oi (coin) and er (hammer). Some of them have a consonant in, like the r in ar, but they still make a single vowel sound.
oo has a long sound and a short one
The oo in “moon” is long. The oo in “book” is short. In some accents they sound almost the same, so go with how your family speaks. When your child reads an oo word, they can try one sound, and if it doesn’t make sense, try the other.
Trigraphs: three letters, one sound
The trigraphs children meet first are igh (night), air (chair), ear (near) and ure (sure). ure is said differently in different accents, so we play it inside a word rather than on its own. Later come tch, which says “ch” as in catch, and dge, which says “j” as in bridge. Both usually come straight after a short vowel.
Many of these sounds have other spellings too. The “ai” sound can be written ay (play) or a-e (cake), and ow can say “oa” in snow. Children learn those in Year 1. For every single letter sound as well, see the full phonics sound chart.
Consonant digraphs
Two consonant letters, one sound. Doubled letters say the same sound as one letter.
Letter pairs with two sounds
Taught as one tile, but each joins two sounds: qu is “kw” and nk is “ng” then “k”.
Vowel digraphs
Two letters, one vowel sound. oo has a long sound and a short one.
Trigraphs
Three letters, one sound. For ure we play the word only.
What is a split digraph (magic e)?
A split digraph is two vowel letters that work together to make one sound, with a consonant in between them. In “kite”, the i and the e team up to make the “igh” sound, and the t sits in the middle. That is why it is called split: the digraph i-e has been split by the t.
There are five, one for each vowel:
- a-e as in cake and ate
- e-e as in these (the rarest)
- i-e as in kite and pine
- o-e as in hope and note
- u-e as in cube, and as in June
Many grown-ups learnt this as “magic e” or “silent e”. Schools now tend to say split digraph, because the e is not really silent: it is half of the sound. A simple way to say it to your child is that the vowel now “says its name”. Sound buttons show it with a curved line joining the two letters under the word.
Not every word ending in e has a split digraph. In “have”, “give” and “come”, the vowel does not say its name. These are among the tricky words children learn to read by sight.
kit: a short i sound.
How to spot digraphs in words: sound buttons
Many schools mark words with sound buttons: a dot under each letter that makes a sound on its own, and a short line (a dash) under two or three letters that make one sound together. A split digraph gets a curved line joining its two letters. Your child presses each button with a finger as they say the sound, then sweeps along underneath to blend the word.
So “chip” has a dash and two dots: ch, i, p. “Light” has a dot, a long dash and a dot: l, igh, t. The marks tell your child how many sounds to say before they start, which stops them reading every letter in turn.
Things that trip children up
- Reading the letters separately. “s-h-o-p” instead of sh-o-p. Point to the team and say the sound together.
- Letters that look like a team but aren’t. In “mishap”, s and h belong to different parts of the word. These are rare in early books, so don’t worry about them yet.
- One spelling, two sounds. oo in moon and book, ow in cow and snow. Teach your child to try the other sound if the word doesn’t make sense.
Spotting digraphs quickly is one of the main things the phonics screening check looks for in Year 1, including in made-up words.
When do children learn digraphs and trigraphs?
Every school follows its own phonics programme, so the order and timing vary. Most schools in England follow a similar path, though:
- Reception, autumn term. Single letter sounds, often starting with s, a, t, p, i, n, then the rest of the alphabet. Doubled letters like ff, ll and ss and the first consonant digraphs, such as ck, sh, ch, th and ng, often come towards the end of this term.
- Reception, spring and summer. Vowel digraphs and trigraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, er and ure. Then lots of practice reading them in longer words.
- Year 1. New ways to spell sounds your child already knows, like ay, ou, ie, ea, oy, ir, ue, aw, ew and ph, plus the split digraphs. In June comes the phonics screening check.
- Year 2. Rarer spellings, and using phonics for spelling as much as for reading.
If your child’s school does things in a different order, follow the school. What matters most is that your child can spot each team and say its sound without stopping to think. You can see what each year covers in our guides to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 phonics.
Grown-ups ask
Questions and answers
What is a digraph?
A digraph is two letters that make one sound, like sh in ship, ai in rain or ck in duck. In phonics, children learn to spot the two letters as a team and say one sound for them, rather than a sound for each letter.
What is the difference between a digraph and a trigraph?
A digraph is two letters making one sound, like ch or ee. A trigraph is three letters making one sound, like igh in night, air in chair or dge in bridge. Both are graphemes: the letters that write a single sound.
What is a split digraph?
Two vowel letters that make one sound with a consonant between them, like a-e in cake, i-e in kite and o-e in hope. Many grown-ups learnt it as “magic e”. Children usually learn split digraphs in Year 1.
Is ck a digraph?
Yes. c and k together make one “k” sound, so ck is a consonant digraph. It usually comes straight after a short vowel, as in duck, sock and back.
Is qu a digraph?
Not strictly. qu is two letters, but it makes two sounds blended together, “kw”, as in queen. Schools teach it as one unit alongside the digraphs because q is almost always followed by u.
When do children learn digraphs?
Usually in Reception. The first consonant digraphs, like sh, ch, th and ng, often come in the autumn term, and vowel digraphs and trigraphs, like ai, ee and igh, follow in the spring. In Year 1 children learn other spellings of the same sounds and split digraphs. The exact order varies by school.
What is a grapheme?
A grapheme is the letter or group of letters that writes one sound. In “night” there are three graphemes, n, igh and t, for three sounds. A grapheme can be one letter, a digraph (two letters) or a trigraph (three letters).
What are consonant digraphs and vowel digraphs?
Consonant digraphs are two consonant letters making one sound, like sh, ch, th, ng and ck. Vowel digraphs make one vowel sound, like ai, ee, oa, oo, ar, or, ow and oi.