Confusing Consonants & Endings

The alphabetic system of English is complex and difficult to figure out. English has more consonant sounds than letters, so five consonant sounds are usually spelled by letter teams. We also have sounds that are spelled in multiple ways and oddities like the fact that words don’t end in the letters J or V. Most people were taught that the letter C can spell /k/ or /s/, but few people know which three vowels must follow the letter C in order for it to represent the sound /s/, so they are left to guess. Word endings add an additional layer of confusion. Most of the complexity of reading English occurs with the vowels, so we’ve made a separate app for that (Making Sense of Vowels and Teams). This app illuminates complex consonant spellings and word endings.
What we think we know about the English writing system is often only the tip of the iceberg. If you asked most people how to spell the sound /s/ at the end of a word, they would reply, “the letter S.” But a single S is the 4th most common way to spell the sound /s/ at the end of a word, and if a word ends in a single S, the S is more likely to represent the sound /z/ than /s/. English has absorbed words from many different languages resulting in odd features, like the sound /zh/ spelled by GE in “beige”, S in “usual”, SI in “decision”, and Z in “azure.” Word endings add another layer of complexity that is difficult to discover. The ending OUS sounds like “us”, IOUS sounds like “ee-us”, CIOUS and TIOUS sound like “shus”, and GIOUS is “jus.” It is extremely difficult to identify these patterns if words are learned as they are encountered in natural reading, which causes readers to have to learn each word individually rather than learning information that transfers to many other words. We clearly present this type of information along with lists of words that contain each of the spellings and sounds. We show which letters work together as a team and which letters provide information about other letters nearby. When you practice reading words, you can touch the screen to hear confusing letters and to check if you read a word correctly. We’ll show you when to use DGE to spell the sound /j/ at the end of a word (like in “edge”) and when to use GE (like in “large”). We’ll explain many more illuminating spelling and reading hints. Whether you are a fourth grade student struggling with reading, an adult English language learner, or an educator with a master’s degree, chances are very low that you have been taught the complete alphabetic code of English. Our apps can show you how it all works! We also have fun apps to help young children learn how to read.

No in-app purchases or subscriptions.