Digraph & Blend Station
A digraph is two letters that make ONE sound — the /sh/ in ship, the /ch/ in chip, the /ph/ in phone. A blend is two letters that make TWO sounds heard together — the /st/ in stop, the /br/ in bread. See the mouth positions. Hear the difference. Then prove you know which is which.
Digraph vs. Blend — The Core Distinction
The two letters merge completely into a single new phoneme. sh — neither /s/ nor /h/ can be heard separately. ch — not /c/ + /h/. ph — not /p/ + /h/, but /f/. One mouth position.
Both sounds remain audible — they squeeze together but neither disappears. st in “stop” — you hear /s/ then /t/. br in “bread” — you hear /b/ then /r/. Two mouth positions in rapid sequence.
The th Exception
Every digraph makes exactly one sound — except th. It represents two entirely different phonemes: voiceless /θ/ (thin, think, bath, teeth) and voiced /ð/ (the, this, breathe, mother). Same two letters, same mouth position, only voicing changes. The Digraph & Blend Station has a dedicated panel for this pair with a diagnostic throat-buzz test.
“What’s the difference between a digraph and a blend?” · “Why does ph make an f sound?” · “What is the -ck rule?” GENO knows every pattern in this station and the spelling rules behind each one.