Don’t Get Ruffled or Baffled by Consonant + le


So far, I have covered R, E, O, C in the REVLOC system of breaking down words to provide rules for easier word pronunciation. Next, comes the L, which stands for Consonant + LE syllable types.

This type of syllable ALWAYS appears at the END of words. The E (the vowel in this type of syllable) is ALWAYS silent. Dictionaries may represent this syllable pronunciation as /b’l/ (to indicate the silence of the e).

Examples of consonant + le syllables:

ble          able                       notice the split:  a  ble – a is an open syllable so it’s long, ble is cons. + le

dle          cradle                    Split: cra (open), dle (cons. + le)

fle           stifle                      Split: sti (open), fle (cons. + le)

gle          bugle                     Split: bu (open), gle (cons. + le)

kle          tinkle                     Spit: tin (closed, but altered by the “ink”), kle (cons. + le)

tle           little                       Split: lit (closed), tle (cons. + le) – notice that if there was only one t, the i would be long.

zle          sizzle                     Split: siz (closed), zle (cons. + le)

ple          maple                   Split: ma (open), ple (cons. + le)

Here are examples of words that use the consonant + le.

Type 1 – middle consonant doubled, this makes only one sound in the middle:

Cuddle (it’s not cud, dle for the pronunciation, but if you only had one d, the u would be long)

Kettle

Fiddle

Paddle

Brittle

Smuggle

Topple

Type 2 – consonant you can hear (unlike the previous, you can hear the consonant before the cons. + le syllable here):

Shingle (“ing” alters the sound of the i in this closed syllable)

Purple

Handle

Gentle

Crumple

Type 3 – ck in the middle:

It appears that the break would be, frec, kle. But, when you have a letter combination like ck, it’s a digraph, and blends and digraphs stay together in word breakdowns. So, technically, it’s freck (k)le. Honestly, as long as the person doing the word breaking can pronounce the word at the end of the split, then the word can be broken up any way you want.

But keeping the “ck” together, means a person would not try to pronounce the c AND the k. They are a digraph, which means that they are two letters together making one sound. Other digraphs are ch, tch, sh, th, wh.

Crackle

Fickle

Trickle

Pickle

Cockle

Type 4 – open syllable with ble:

Ladle

Noble

Fable

Bible

Rifle

Title

Bugle

Sentences for dictation – always have student read back, aloud, what (s)he has written.

The table was brittle.

His freckles made him humble.

The title of the puzzle made her giggle.

He was gentle with the cattle.

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