Common Consonant Clusters in English

/bl/

black, blue, blow

• The blue sky looked beautiful.
• He blew out the candles.
• The black cat crossed the road.

/br/

brown, break, bring

• The brown dog barked loudly.
• Please don’t break the glass.
• They always bring snacks to the party.

/kl/

clap, clean, clear

• The kids clap at the end of the show.
• He needs to clean his room.
• The instructions were not clear enough.

/kr/

cry, creep, crack

• The baby began to cry loudly.
• I heard the crack of a broken twig.
• Don’t let the spider creep near me.

/dr/

dry, dream, drive

• The roads were dry after the storm.
• She had a strange dream last night.
• Can you drive me to the shop?

/fl/

fly, flip, flag

• The bird began to fly above the trees.
• He likes to flip through old photo albums.
• A red flag waved in the distance.

/fr/

free, fresh, friend

• She likes to keep her ideas free from restrictions.
• The air smelled fresh after the rain.
• He is my best friend.

/gl/

glass, glow, glad

• The glass shattered into tiny pieces.
• Fireflies began to glow in the dark.
• She felt so glad to see him.

/gr/

green, great, ground

• The green grass was freshly mown.
• That was a great idea!
• They worked hard on the ground floor.

/pl/

play, please, plant

• Please play quietly.
• Water the plant every day.

/pr/

press, prime, proud

• Press the button twice.
• I’m proud of you.

/sk/

school, score, skip

• We walk to school.
• What’s the score?

/sl/

slip, slide, slow

• Don’t slip on the ice.
• Slow down, please.

/sm/

smile, smoke, small

• Smile for the photo!
• It’s a small world.

/sn/

snow, snap, snake

• The snow is deep today.
• There’s a snake in the grass.

/sp/

space, spin, speak

• Can you speak English?
• There’s no space left.

/st/

stop, star, stand

• Stop at the corner.
• Please stand up.

/sw/

swim, sweet, swing

• I swim every morning.
• The cake is very sweet.

/tr/

tree, truck, train

• The train is late again.
• A truck hit the tree.

/tw/

twin, tweet, twenty

• My twin is twenty today.

/ʃr/

shrimp, shred, shrink

• Don’t shrink my jumper!

/ld/

old, held, gold

• The house looked old and abandoned.
• He held the baby gently.
• The gold necklace was priceless.

/lf/

self, golf, shelf

• I try to be my true self every day.
• He enjoys playing golf at weekends.
• Put the book on the shelf.

/lm/

film, elm, helm

• They watched a classic film together.
• An old elm stood by the river.

/lp/

help, gulp, yelp

• Can you help me, please?

/mp/

jump, lamp, camp

• The athlete performed a high jump.
• The lamp glowed softly in the corner.
• We went to a summer camp.

/nd/

hand, land, bend

• He shook her hand firmly.
• The farm had rich, fertile land.
• She tried to bend the rules.

/nt/

hint, plant, want

• I want a new plant.

/ŋk/

think, bank, pink

• I think the bank is closed.

/kt/

act, fact, looked

• In fact, he looked very happy.

/ks/

parks, works, books

• The parks are busy on Sundays.
• She works in a bookshop.

/dz/

birds, cards, words

• The birds chirped in the trees.
• She made handmade cards for her friends.
• The teacher highlighted important words.

/sk/

mask, task, desk

• Please clear your desk.

/sp/

crisp, grasp, wasp

• A wasp landed on the crisp apple.

/st/

must, rust, past

• You must be on time.
• It’s past ten already.

/str/

street, strong, stream, strike, structure

• The kids walked down the street together.
• He is so strong for his age.
• A clear stream flowed through the woods.
• They had to follow the structure of the essay.

/spl/

split, splash, splendid

• The water splashed onto the rocks.
• The team showed splendid teamwork.
• Don’t split the rope in half.

/spr/

spring, sprout, spray

• Flowers began to bloom in the spring.
• They will spray the walls with paint.
• The plant will sprout soon.

/skr/

scream, screen, script

• Don’t scream!
• Look at the screen.

/skw/

square, squeeze, squash

• We sat at a square table.

/nts/

plants, wants, hints, students, events

• The farmer planted many plants this season.
• She wants to go to the park.
• They left several helpful hints.
• The students prepared for their exams.

/fts/

gifts, shifts, drafts

• He gave her thoughtful gifts for her birthday.
• The wind caused sudden shifts in the weather.
• The artist made precise drafts of the design.

/mpt/

jumped, stamped, camped, tempt

• He jumped over the puddle.
• They stamped the letters before posting them.
• She camped in the forest last night.

/lpt/

helped, gulped

• She helped me with my homework.

/kst/

next, text

• See you next week.

/ksts/

texts

• She sent me three texts.

/mpts/

attempts, prompts, tempts

• After three attempts, he passed.

/ksθs/

sixths

• Five-sixths of the class passed.

/lfθs/

twelfths

• Two-twelfths is one-sixth.