‘R’ blend words include a two-letter consonant blend where the second letter is ‘r.’ There are seven blends: ‘br,’ ‘cr,’ ‘dr,’ ‘fr,’ ‘gr,’ ‘pr,’ and ‘tr.’ Some common examples of ‘r’ blend words include ‘tree,’ ‘crab,’ and ‘drain.’
What is a consonant blend?
Before we explore consonant blends with ‘r’ in particular, let’s first find out what a consonant blend is.
A consonant blend, also known as a consonant cluster or a consonant sequence, is where two or more consonants are grouped with no vowels in between them. And more essentially, each consonant in a blend retains its sound.
We must be careful not to get blends mixed up with digraphs. While each consonant in a combination keeps its sound, a consonant digraph is where the consonants make up a single phoneme (such as ‘sh’). It can be tricky to tell if a group of consonants is a digraph or a cluster, and if you or your learners are ever in any doubt, it’s a good idea to try sounding it out.
What are ‘r’ blend words?
Now that we know what a consonant cluster is let’s explore some words with consonant blends with ‘r’ in them.
‘r’ blend words contain a consonant cluster in which ‘r’ is the second consonant. There are seven standard consonant blends with ‘r’: ‘br,’ ‘cr,’ ‘dr,’ ‘fr,’ ‘gr,’ ‘pr,’ and ‘str.’ These words include high-frequency ones we regularly use, like ‘tree’ and ‘grow.’
Below, we’ve put together a handy list of words that start with each of these different ‘r’ blends:
‘R’ blend words
/ br /
Let’s start with some words that contain the ‘br’ blend:
- brick
- brush
- braid
- brown
- brain
- bride
- bread
- bronze
- branch
- bridge
- broken
- broomstick
- brother
- brownie
- breakfast
- bright
- bracelet
- broccoli
- brisk
- brew
/ cr /
Next up, we have the ‘cr’ blend, which features a variety of different words:
- crab
- crack
- crib
- crumpet
- crane
- cram
- crisps
- crumbs
- crayon
- criminal
- cricket
- crocodile
- crumble
- crash
- crawl
- crime
- crown
- crush
- crows
- cross
/ dr /
Now that take a look at the standard ‘dr’ blend:
- drink
- drop
- drag
- dress
- drum
- drill
- dream
- drive
- dragon
- drawbridge
- droplet
- drift
- droop
- drain
- drool
- drama
- draft
- drowsy
- dramatic
- dread
/ fr /
Now that we’ve looked at ‘dr’ words, let’s read through some words with consonant blends with ‘r’ that have ‘f’ as the first consonant:
- frog
- frost
- fruit
- freeze
- fries
- friends
- frame
- fridge
- freckles
- fringe
- fractions
- fright
- front
- free
- fryer
- freshen
- fraud
- frayed
- frantic
- frown
/ gr /
Up next, we’ve got the ‘gr’ consonant blend:
- grin
- green
- grass
- gravel
- groan
- grill
- gran
- grapes
- grey
- graph
- grease
- groom
- ground
- gravy
- grew
- grate
- groggy
- greed
- group
- grade
/ pr /
Now let’s investigate the ‘pr’ consonant cluster:
- press
- present
- pram
- prank
- prom
- prince
- pray
- problem
- prize
- proof
- prove
- property
- pretzel
- prime
- price
- prison
- prune
- prism
- pride
/ tr /
And last but not least, let’s read through some words that feature the ‘tr’ blend:
- tree
- tractor
- tram
- trap
- train
- trick
- trail
- triangle
- traffic
- trumpet
- triplets
- trophy
- training
- trace
- trust
- trolley
- trivial
- trousers
- trapeze
- tremble