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Phonics words explained: digraphs, graphemes and tricky words

Quick answer

Phonics has its own words. A phoneme is a sound; a grapheme is the letter or letters that write it. A digraph is two letters making one sound (sh, ai), a trigraph is three (igh), and a split digraph has a letter in the middle (a-e in cake). Blending is running sounds together to read; segmenting is splitting a word into sounds to spell.

By the TapLearn team · Updated 30 October 2026 · Facts checked 30 October 2026 · For England

The words you'll hear most

  • Phoneme: a single sound in a word. "Cat" has three: c-a-t. "Ship" also has three: sh-i-p.
  • Grapheme: how a sound is written. The sound in "rain" can be written ai, ay (play) or a-e (cake): three graphemes for one sound.
  • Digraph: two letters that make one sound, such as sh, ch, th, ee, oa and ai.
  • Trigraph: three letters that make one sound, such as igh (night), air (chair) and ear (hear).
  • Split digraph: two letters that work together with another letter in between, such as a-e (make), i-e (bike) and o-e (home). Some schools call it "magic e"; the e isn't silent so much as changing the vowel.
  • Blending: saying each sound and running them together to read a word: m-a-t, mat.
  • Segmenting: splitting a word into its sounds to spell it: "frog" is f-r-o-g.

More words from the classroom

  • Pure sounds: saying sounds without an extra "uh": "mmm", not "muh". It makes blending much easier.
  • Sound buttons: dots and dashes under a word, one for each sound. A dash goes under a digraph or trigraph.
  • Tricky words, or common exception words: words with an unusual spelling that children learn by sight, such as "the", "said", "was" and "people". Some become decodable later, once children learn the sounds.
  • Alien words, or pseudo-words: made-up words, such as "blim" or "strom", used in the Year 1 phonics check to see if children can really decode rather than remember.
  • Decodable books: reading books that only use sounds your child has learned so far.
  • CVC words: short words with a consonant, a vowel and a consonant, such as cat, pin and dog. Usually the first words children read.

Why the words matter

Schools in England use a systematic synthetic phonics programme, and each programme teaches the sounds in its own order. When you use the same words as the teacher, and say sounds the same way, your child doesn't have to translate between home and school. If you're not sure how the school says a sound, ask: many schools share short videos.

How you can help

  • When your child gets stuck on a word, ask "What sounds can you see?" before telling them.
  • Spot digraphs on signs and packets: "Can you find 'sh' on that sign?"
  • Write a few tricky words on sticky notes and swap them around each week.

Questions parents ask

What is the difference between a phoneme and a grapheme?

A phoneme is a sound you hear; a grapheme is the letter or letters you write for it. The 'ee' sound has graphemes like ee (tree), ea (sea) and y (happy).

What is a split digraph?

Two letters that make one sound with another letter between them, such as a-e in 'cake' or i-e in 'bike'.

What are tricky words?

Common words with spellings children can't fully sound out yet, such as 'the', 'said' and 'was'. They're learned by sight. Schools may call them common exception words.

Why are there made-up words in the phonics check?

Because children can't have memorised them, alien words show whether a child can decode a word from its sounds.

Sources

Related guides

Written by the TapLearn team for parents and carers in England. Schools teach in different orders and ways, so your child's teacher is always the best person to ask about your child. Spotted something out of date? Please email us at [email protected].