Which statement about consonant blends is true?

Which statement about consonant blends is true?

• A. They are pairs of vowels.
• B. Consonant blends are combinations of two or more consonants where each sound is heard.
• C. They are not used in elementary reading.
• D. They are combinations of two or more consonants where some sounds are silent.

Answer: (B)

Consonant blends are two or more consonants joined together in which you can hear each separate sound when you say the word. This helps a reader decode by blending the individual sounds smoothly. For example, in a word like blue you hear the /b/ and the /l/ as you say it, and in stop you hear the /s/ and the /t/ together. This is exactly what the statement describes: a combination of two or more consonants where each sound is heard. That makes sense in contrast to other ideas. It isn’t about vowels, so that part isn’t right. It’s also not true that these blends aren’t used in elementary reading—blends are a fundamental stepping stone in learning to read. And while some letter groups can be silent in other contexts, consonant blends typically involve both sounds being audible, rather than one being silent.

Consonant blends are two or more consonants joined together in which you can hear each separate sound when you say the word. This helps a reader decode by blending the individual sounds smoothly. For example, in a word like blue you hear the /b/ and the /l/ as you say it, and in stop you hear the /s/ and the /t/ together. This is exactly what the statement describes: a combination of two or more consonants where each sound is heard.

That makes sense in contrast to other ideas. It isn’t about vowels, so that part isn’t right. It’s also not true that these blends aren’t used in elementary reading—blends are a fundamental stepping stone in learning to read. And while some letter groups can be silent in other contexts, consonant blends typically involve both sounds being audible, rather than one being silent.