What Is a Digraph?
A digraph is two letters that work together to make one single sound. When you see a digraph, you do not hear each letter separately, you hear a brand-new sound.
sh in "ship", the s and h combine to make the /sh/ sound.
That is the key idea: two letters, one sound.
Common consonant digraphs
- sh: ship, wish, shell
- ch: chip, lunch, cheese
- th: this, bath, think (th makes two sounds: voiced as in "this" and unvoiced as in "think")
- wh: when, whale, whistle
- ph: phone, graph, photo (makes the /f/ sound)
- ck: back, duck, stick (makes the /k/ sound)
- ng: ring, song, lung
Vowel digraphs
Two vowels can also form a digraph:
- ea: read, bead
- oa: boat, goat
- ai: rain, train
- ee: tree, see
These are sometimes called vowel teams, and the same principle applies, two letters producing one sound.
Digraphs vs blends
This is the most common point of confusion:
- Digraph: two letters, one sound: "sh" in "ship" (you cannot hear the s or h individually)
- Blend: two letters, two sounds blurred together: "bl" in "blue" (you can still hear the /b/ and the /l/)
A quick test: can you hear each letter's sound? If yes, it is a blend. If the two letters create a completely new sound, it is a digraph.
Why digraphs matter
Digraphs appear in some of the most common English words, the, this, that, she, when, which. A child who does not recognize digraphs will try to sound out each letter individually and get stuck. Learning digraphs unlocks a huge number of everyday words.
Related concepts
- What Is a Blend in Reading?: two letters where both sounds are heard
- What Is Phonics?: the system connecting letters to sounds
- What Is a CVC Word?: simple words before digraphs are introduced
- What Is a Vowel Team?: vowel digraphs and beyond