What are consonant digraphs?

What are consonant digraphs?

• A. Two consonants that together make one sound, such as 'sh', 'th', and 'ch'.
• B. A single consonant letter that represents two sounds.
• C. A vowel digraph.
• D. A pair of consonants that always appear at the end of words.

Answer: (A)

Consonant digraphs are two consonant letters that work together to make one sound. When you see sh in ship, th in think, or ch in chair, the two letters blend to produce a single spoken sound rather than two separate sounds. This distinction helps explain why these spellings represent one sound in reading and writing. Keep in mind the difference from consonant blends, where two consonants appear together but each keeps its own sound, like bl in blue. The other statements don’t describe this idea: a single consonant letter that represents two sounds isn’t how digraphs are defined, a vowel digraph involves vowels, and a pair of consonants that always appear at the end of words isn’t a defining characteristic of digraphs.

Consonant digraphs are two consonant letters that work together to make one sound. When you see sh in ship, th in think, or ch in chair, the two letters blend to produce a single spoken sound rather than two separate sounds. This distinction helps explain why these spellings represent one sound in reading and writing. Keep in mind the difference from consonant blends, where two consonants appear together but each keeps its own sound, like bl in blue. The other statements don’t describe this idea: a single consonant letter that represents two sounds isn’t how digraphs are defined, a vowel digraph involves vowels, and a pair of consonants that always appear at the end of words isn’t a defining characteristic of digraphs.