1.3: Vowels That Can Be Consonants- <y>, <w>, and

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Overview of Vowels That Can Be Consonants

The standard that <a>, <e>, , <o>, and sometimes <y> are vowels usually works.

However, <w> can sometimes work with another vowel to make a vowel sound, and can, on rare occasions, act as a consonant. Treating , <w>, and <y> as letters that sometimes work as vowels and sometimes as consonants helps us make sense of spelling.

Examples

In gym, someday, and puppy, <y> makes a vowel sound, but in you and beyond, <y> makes a consonant sound.
The letter <w> is only a vowel when it is found second in the two-letter teams <aw>, <ew>, and <ow>, as in draw, few, and low. Otherwise, it is a consonant, like in way, write and who.
The letter is usually a vowel, but it acts as a consonant when comes after the letter <q>, as in unique, or when it spells the [w] sound. This happens when it comes right after the letter <q>, as in queen, and occasionally after the letter <g>, as in penguin.

Review

Listen to the sound the <y>, <w>, or is spelling or helping to spell in these words. Then sort the words into the two groups below.

below	years	went	white	type	question
write	every	study	full	earthquake	saw
women	new	yard	would	gull	language
what	argue	begun	jaguar	they	around

Words in which the <y>, <w>, or <u> is acting as...
a consonant	a vowel

Show Answer

Words in which the <y>, <w>, or <u> is acting as...
a consonant	a vowel
years	every
yard	type
white	they
what	saw
write	below
women	new
would	study
went	full
earthquake	around
question	gull
jaguar	argue
language	begun

Explore More

In another concept, you can learn that when we add a suffix like -ing to a word that ends with a single consonant with a single vowel right in front of it, we must add a twin consonant letter: So if we start with the word hop and add -ing to it, we get the following:

which becomes

Thus, we get hopping, with twin

If <w> and <y> were always consonants, we would have to twin them when we add -ing to words like crow and toy, which would lead to the incorrect spellings <crowwing> and <toyying> rather than the correct crowing and toying. In such cases, <w> and <y> are vowels, so we do not twin them.

And if were always a vowel, words like quit and quiz would have two vowel letters in front of the <t> and <z> rather than just one, which means that when we added ing to them, we would not twin the <t> and <z>. That would give us the incorrect spellings <quiting> and <quizing> rather than the correct spellings quitting and quizzing. In such cases, is a consonant and so we do twin the <t> and <z>.

<y> As a Vowel or Consonant

Just like we can use the same word in different ways, we can use the same letter in different ways. For example, the word blue sometimes means a color, and sometimes it means “sad.” Similarly, <y> is a letter that is sometimes used as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant.

The letter <y> is a consonant when it spells the sound it spells in the word yes. When it spells any other sound, it is a vowel.

Examples

Listen to the sound the <y> is spelling or helping to spell in these words, then determine if it is acting as a vowel or a consonant.

1. In yell, the <e> makes the vowel sound while the <y> makes the sound it spells in yes. So, <y> is acting as a consonant.

2. In gym, the <y> makes an [i] or short sound, so it is acting as the vowel.

Review

Listen to the sound the <y> is spelling or helping to spell in these words. Then sort the words into the two groups below:

gym	yard	years	every
type	you	they	why
beyond	someday	puppy	yellow

Words in which the <y> is ...
a consonant	a vowel

One letter that is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant is _______.

Show Answer

Listen to the sound the <y> is spelling or helping to spell in these words. Then sort the words into the two groups below:

gym	yard	years	every
type	you	they	why
beyond	someday	puppy	yellow

Words in which the <y> is ...
a consonant	a vowel
beyond	gym
yard	type
you	someday
years	they
yellow	puppy
	every
	why

One letter that is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant is <y>.

<w> As a Vowel or Consonant

The letter <y> is one example of a letter that sometimes acts as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant. The letter <w> is another letter that sometimes acts as a vowel and sometimes a consonant.

The letter <w> is usually a consonant. It is a vowel only when it teams up with an <a>, <e>, or <o> to spell a single sound—as in the words draw, few, and low. So the letter <w> is a vowel only in the two-letter teams <aw>, <ew>, and <ow>.

Everywhere else <w> is a consonant. It is a consonant when it spells the sound it does at the front of way, and it is a consonant when it teams up with <r> and <h>— as in write and who.

Examples

Listen to the sound the <w> is spelling or helping to spell in each of these words. Then determine if it is acting as a vowel or a consonant.

In below, the <w> is working in the team <ow> and thus is acting as a vowel.
In went, the <e> is making the vowel sound and the <w> is not working in an <aw>, <ew>, or <ow> team, so it is acting as a consonant.

Review

Listen to the sound the <w> is spelling or helping to spell in each of these words. Then sort the words into the two groups below:

away	what	below	went
saw	write	would	new
yellow	women	few	white

Words in which the <w> is ...
a vowel	a consonant

Each word in Column 1 below contains a <w> or a <y>. Sometimes the <w> or <y> is a consonant, sometimes a vowel. Spell each word in Column 1 backwards and you will get a new word. Write these new words in Column 2. Then put a check mark after each word that contains a <w> or <y> that is a vowel. We've given you a start:

Column 1	Column 2
was	saw
dray	yard
flow
wets
straw
pay
war
yaws
draw
wonk

Show Answer

Listen to the sound the <w> is spelling or helping to spell in each of these words. Then sort the words into the two groups below:

away	what	below	went
saw	write	would	new
yellow	women	few	white

Words in which the <w> is ...
a vowel	a consonant
saw	away
yellow	what
below	write
few	women
new	would
	went
	white

Column 1	Column 2
was	saw √
dray √	yard
flow √	wolf
wets	stew √
straw √	warts
pay √	yaps
war	raw √
yaws √	sway √
draw √	ward
wonk	know √

As a Vowel or Consonant

While the letter is usually considered a vowel, there are a few cases where it doesn't act as a vowel in a word.

The letter acts as a consonant when in comes right after the letter <q>, as in quit or mosquito.
The letter is also a consonant anytime it spells the sound that is usually spelled with a <w>, the sound you hear at the beginning of will and won't. This happens with the letter <q> as in queen, and also in a few words, such as penguin, when it follows the letter <g>.

Examples

Look at the letter in front of the . Based on this letter, determine if is acting as a vowel or consonant.

In queen, the <ee> makes the vowel sound and the comes right after a <q>, so it acts as a consonant.
In duck, the doesn't come after <q> or <g> and it makes the short or [u] sound, so it is acting as a vowel.

Review

Look carefully at the letter in front of the in each of the following words and then sort the words into the two groups.

queen	quick	shold	study	around
unique	you	duck	funny	question
quiet	full	blue	earthquake	squirrel

Words in which the <u>
comes right after the letter <q>		does not come right after the letter <q>

Fill in the blanks: The letter is usually a _______, but it can be a consonant when it comes right after the letter ____.

Here are seven words in which comes right after <q>. In six of these words, the letter spells the <w> sound. Write those six in the table.

queen	unique	quiet	quick
earthquake	question	squirrel

Listen carefully to the sound spelled by the in each of the following words and then sort the words into the two groups based on whether spells the <w> sound.

language	gum	jaguar	penguin
gun	begun	gull	argue

Words in which the letter <u>
spells the <w> sound	does not spell the <w> sound

Show Answer

Look carefully at the letter in front of the in each of the following words and then sort the words into the two groups.

queen	quick	shold	study	around
unique	you	duck	funny	question
quiet	full	blue	earthquake	squirrel

Words in which the <u>
comes right after the letter <q>		does not come right after the letter <q>
queen	earthquake	you	blue
unique	question	full	study
quiet	squirrel	should	funny
quick		duck	around

Fill in the blanks: The letter is usually a vowel, but it is a consonant when it comes right after the letter <q>.

Here are seven words in which comes right after <q>. In six of these words, the letter spells the <w> sound. Write those six in the table.

queen	unique	quiet	quick
earthquake	question	squirrel

queen	quiet	quick
earthquake	question	squirrel

Listen carefully to the sound spelled by the in each of the following words and then sort the words into the two groups based on whether spells the <w> sound.

language	gum	jaguar	penguin
gun	begun	gull	argue

Words in which the letter <u>
spells the <w> sound	does not spell the <w> sound
language	gun	gull
jaguar	gum	argue
penguin	begun

Overview of Vowels That Can Be Consonants

Examples

Review

Explore More

<y> As a Vowel or Consonant

Examples

Review

<w> As a Vowel or Consonant

Examples

Review

<u> As a Vowel or Consonant

Examples

Review