Year 1 English: Split digraphs: a-e and e-e
Part of the Year 1 English more ways to write a sound chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
Split digraphs: a-e and e-e
Look at the word cake. It has an a, then a k, then an e at the end. The a says its name. The e at the end does not make a sound of its own. Its job is to make the a say its name.
Two vowel letters are split apart by one consonant. We call this a split digraph. In these, the first e says its name, and the e at the end does not make a sound.
Key ideas
- Two vowels are split by one consonant, with an e at the end: cake.
- The first vowel says its name. The a in cake says its name.
- The e at the end does not make a sound of its own.
- e-e words include these, theme, complete and athlete.
Key words. A split digraph is a vowel, then one consonant, then e at the end, like the a, k and e in cake.
Method. Name the picture, then write the word with the right letters.
- Look at the picture. Say the name of the thing in a whole word.The picture shows a cake.
- Say the word slowly. Look at every letter, one at a time.c - a - k - e
- Write the word. Write the letters in the right order.cake
Check. Count the letters in cake: there are 4. ✓
Watch out. Look at every letter. A word with a letter missing or in the wrong place is not right.
Key words. Adding an e at the end can change the word, as tap becomes tape.
Method. Add an e at the end of the short word. The vowel then says its name.
- Look at the short word. The vowel in a short word has a short sound.tap: the a has a short sound
- Add an e at the end. The e goes after the last letter. The e does not make a sound.tap + e = tape
- Check the vowel now. The a says its name in the new word.tape
Check. Read tape as one word. The a says its name. ✓
Watch out. The e does not go on the end of every word. Only add it where the new word needs it.
Key words. A split digraph: two vowel letters split by one consonant. The first vowel says its name.
Method. Find the e at the end, then the consonant and vowel in front of it.
- Find the e at the end. The last letter is the e.complete: last letter is e
- Find the consonant before the e. One consonant sits between the vowel and the e.consonant: t
- Find the vowel before the consonant. This vowel says its own name.vowel: e, so the pattern is e-e
Check. The vowel e says its name in complete. ✓
Watch out. The pattern is written with the vowel first: e-e.
Watch out
Watch out: cap and cape are different words. The e at the end of cape makes the a say its name. Read every letter, including the e.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Write cap and cape side by side. Ask your child to point to the vowel in each word, then say the name of that letter. Then ask: “What does the e at the end do?”
Exercise 3A Split digraphs a-e and e-e
Key words. A split digraph is a vowel, then one consonant, then e at the end, like the a, k and e in cake.
Method. Name the picture, then write the word with the right letters.
- Look at the picture. Say the name of the thing in a whole word.The picture shows a cake.
- Say the word slowly. Look at every letter, one at a time.c - a - k - e
- Write the word. Write the letters in the right order.cake
Check. Count the letters in cake: there are 4. ✓
Watch out. Look at every letter. A word with a letter missing or in the wrong place is not right.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.l?ke
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.lake: the gap is a
- Write the missing letters. a
Check. Put a into the gap and read lake again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.g?me
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.game: the gap is a
- Write the missing letters. a
Check. Put a into the gap and read game again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.p?ge
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.page: the gap is a
- Write the missing letters. a
Check. Put a into the gap and read page again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.m?ke
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.make: the gap is a
- Write the missing letters. a
Check. Put a into the gap and read make again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Key words. Adding an e at the end can change the word, as cap becomes cape.
Method. Add an e at the end of the short word. The vowel then says its name.
- Look at the short word. The vowel in a short word has a short sound.cap: the a has a short sound
- Add an e at the end. The e goes after the last letter. The e does not make a sound.cap + e = cape
- Check the vowel now. The a says its name in the new word.cape
Check. Read cape as one word. The a says its name. ✓
Watch out. The e does not go on the end of every word. Only add it where the new word needs it.
Key words. Adding an e at the end can change the word, as tap becomes tape.
Method. Add an e at the end of the short word. The vowel then says its name.
- Look at the short word. The vowel in a short word has a short sound.tap: the a has a short sound
- Add an e at the end. The e goes after the last letter. The e does not make a sound.tap + e = tape
- Check the vowel now. The a says its name in the new word.tape
Check. Read tape as one word. The a says its name. ✓
Watch out. The e does not go on the end of every word. Only add it where the new word needs it.
Key words. Adding an e at the end can change the word, as mad becomes made.
Method. Add an e at the end of the short word. The vowel then says its name.
- Look at the short word. The vowel in a short word has a short sound.mad: the a has a short sound
- Add an e at the end. The e goes after the last letter. The e does not make a sound.mad + e = made
- Check the vowel now. The a says its name in the new word.made
Check. Read made as one word. The a says its name. ✓
Watch out. The e does not go on the end of every word. Only add it where the new word needs it.
Key words. Adding an e at the end can change the word, as pal becomes pale.
Method. Add an e at the end of the short word. The vowel then says its name.
- Look at the short word. The vowel in a short word has a short sound.pal: the a has a short sound
- Add an e at the end. The e goes after the last letter. The e does not make a sound.pal + e = pale
- Check the vowel now. The a says its name in the new word.pale
Check. Read pale as one word. The a says its name. ✓
Watch out. The e does not go on the end of every word. Only add it where the new word needs it.
Method. We want the word that has the a-e pattern: a vowel, one consonant, then e at the end.
- Look at the end of each word. The e at the end is the first clue.pan: no e at the end, so no split e
plate: a, t, e makes a-e ✓
plan: no e at the end, so no split e - Look at the two letters before the e. The vowel and the consonant must be in the right places.Pattern for plate: a-e
- Write the answer. Only one word has the right pattern.plate
Check. Check plate once more: the letters are p - l - a - t - e. ✓
Watch out. A word that ends in e is not always a split e. Check the vowel and the consonant before the e.
Key words. A split digraph is a vowel, then one consonant, then e at the end, like the a, k and e in cake.
Method. Name the picture, then write the word with the right letters.
- Look at the picture. Say the name of the thing in a whole word.The picture shows a plane.
- Say the word slowly. Look at every letter, one at a time.p - l - a - n - e
- Write the word. Write the letters in the right order.plane
Check. Count the letters in plane: there are 5. ✓
Watch out. Look at every letter. A word with a letter missing or in the wrong place is not right.
Key words. A split digraph is a vowel, then one consonant, then e at the end, like the a, k and e in cake.
Method. Name the picture, then write the word with the right letters.
- Look at the picture. Say the name of the thing in a whole word.The picture shows a lake.
- Say the word slowly. Look at every letter, one at a time.l - a - k - e
- Write the word. Write the letters in the right order.lake
Check. Count the letters in lake: there are 4. ✓
Watch out. Look at every letter. A word with a letter missing or in the wrong place is not right.
Method. Compare Mo’s word with the right word, letter by letter.
- Look at the letters Mo wrote. Mo wrote l, a and k.lak
- Compare with the right word. lake has one more letter, at the end.lake = l, a, k, e
- Find the missing letter. The missing letter is the e at the end.e
Check. Read lake with your finger: l, a, k, e. ✓
Watch out. The e at the end is easy to forget. Check the end of the word.
Method. Look for the pattern that most of the words have. Then find the word that does not have it.
- Look at all the words. Find the pattern in each word.cake, make, cap, lake
- Find the word that does not match. cake, make and lake end with a consonant then e, but cap has no e at the end.cap does not match
- Write the answer. cap
Check. Check each of the other words has the same pattern. ✓
Watch out. Look at the letters, not the picture or the meaning, for this question.
Method. We want the word that has the e-e pattern: a vowel, one consonant, then e at the end.
- Look at the end of each word. The e at the end is the first clue.theme: e, m, e makes e-e ✓
them: no e at the end, so no split e
the: the e at the end has no single consonant and vowel before it - Look at the two letters before the e. The vowel and the consonant must be in the right places.Pattern for theme: e-e
- Write the answer. Only one word has the right pattern.theme
Check. Check theme once more: the letters are t - h - e - m - e. ✓
Watch out. A word that ends in e is not always a split e. Check the vowel and the consonant before the e.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.th?s?
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.these: the gap is e and e
- Write the missing letters. e and e
Check. Put e and e into the gap and read these again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Read the whole word, then find the letters that fit the gap.
- Read the word with the gap. Look at the letters around the gap.th?m?
- Think about the whole word. The word must be spelled as a whole word.theme: the gap is e and e
- Write the missing letters. e and e
Check. Put e and e into the gap and read theme again. ✓
Watch out. Read the whole word, not just the letters near the gap.
Method. Sort each word by its spelling pattern, one word at a time.
- Look at each word in turn. Find the letters or the pattern that tells the group.these, theme, athlete, bed, pen, dog
- Put each word in the group that matches. Keep the groups apart.Has a split e: these, theme, athlete
No split e: bed, pen, dog - Write the groups. Has a split e: these, theme, athlete; No split e: bed, pen, dog
Check. Count the words: there are 6 in all, and none are left out. ✓
Watch out. Check every word is in one group only.
Method. Compare the two words letter by letter.
- Look at cap. cap has a short a. The a does not say its name.cap: short a
- Look at cape. The e at the end makes the a say its name.cape: long a
- Decide if they are the same word. Two words with different sounds are different words.different words
Check. Read each word out loud. The a sounds different in each one. ✓
Watch out. Adding an e can change the word itself, not just the spelling.
Key words. A split digraph: two vowel letters split by one consonant. The first vowel says its name.
Method. Find the e at the end, then the consonant and vowel in front of it.
- Find the e at the end. The last letter is the e.complete: last letter is e
- Find the consonant before the e. One consonant sits between the vowel and the e.consonant: t
- Find the vowel before the consonant. This vowel says its own name.vowel: e, so the pattern is e-e
Check. The vowel e says its name in complete. ✓
Watch out. The pattern is written with the vowel first: e-e.