Which statement correctly contrasts digraphs and blends?

Which statement correctly contrasts digraphs and blends?

• A. Digraphs form a new sound; blends keep the original sounds.
• B. Digraphs keep the original sounds; blends form a new sound.
• C. Both digraphs and blends always form a new sound.
• D. Digraphs never occur at word endings.

Answer: (A)

When two letters come together, they can behave in two ways in phonics. A digraph forms a single, new sound that isn’t just the sum of its letters. Think of sh in ship or ch in chin—the two letters team up to create one sound. A blend, on the other hand, keeps the sounds of both letters, so you can hear /b/ and /r/ in br- or /s/ and /t/ in st- together, though they share a position in the same cluster. So the statement that digraphs form a new sound while blends keep the original sounds best captures this difference. Digraphs can appear at word endings too (for example, bath or with), which shows why the other options aren’t correct: blends don’t create a single new sound, and not every digraph always makes a new sound in every context.

When two letters come together, they can behave in two ways in phonics. A digraph forms a single, new sound that isn’t just the sum of its letters. Think of sh in ship or ch in chin—the two letters team up to create one sound. A blend, on the other hand, keeps the sounds of both letters, so you can hear /b/ and /r/ in br- or /s/ and /t/ in st- together, though they share a position in the same cluster.

So the statement that digraphs form a new sound while blends keep the original sounds best captures this difference. Digraphs can appear at word endings too (for example, bath or with), which shows why the other options aren’t correct: blends don’t create a single new sound, and not every digraph always makes a new sound in every context.