---
title: "Split Digraphs and Magic E"
description: "Read and spell words containing split digraphs (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e), where a vowel and final e work together across a consonant"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/split-digraphs-and-magic-e-mt_C7abt7pRr6
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/split-digraphs-and-magic-e-mt_C7abt7pRr6.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Split Digraphs and Magic E

Read and spell words containing split digraphs (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e), where a vowel and final e work together across a consonant

Subject: English · Area: Phonics & Word Reading · Ages 5 to 7
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/split-digraphs-and-magic-e-mt_C7abt7pRr6

## Ready when they can

- Read words with split digraphs (e.g. 'cake', 'bike', 'home', 'cube')
- Compare minimal pairs showing the effect of the split digraph (e.g. 'cap' vs 'cape')
- Spell words with split digraphs correctly

## Lesson: Reading split digraphs and magic e

You have joined whole words to make compounds. Now look inside a word for letters that work together. In words such as cape, bike and home, a vowel and a final e work together. The final e has no separate sound. The vowel has a long sound. This is sometimes called magic e. A long a, e, i or o sounds like that letter's name.

*(drawing: Add a silent e to cap. It becomes cape.)*

**Example.** Say cap, then cape. Cap has a short a. Cape has a long a, like the letter name. To change cap to cape, keep c, a and p in order and add e. Check the final e when you spell a word like this.

Look for a vowel letter, a consonant and a final e. Check the word's sound too, since some words are exceptions. To read make, blend the sound for m, long a and the sound for k. Do not add a sound for the final e. Make has four letters but three sounds.

A consonant separates the vowel and final e. We call this team a split digraph. The teams include a-e in name, e-e in these, i-e in nine and o-e in rose. In u-e words, cube has the sound of the letter name u. Flute has the long oo sound.

You can compare a word with and without its final e. Pine has a long i. Take away its final e and the letters spell pin, with a short i. The other letters stay in the same order.

Some words end in e without following this long-vowel pattern. Give has the short i sound in sit. Have has the short a sound in cat. Come rhymes with some, not home. Learn these words' sounds as you check their letters.

**Recap.** Find the vowel and final e that work together. Blend the sounds, and remember that some final-e words are exceptions.

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Vowel Digraphs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/vowel-digraphs-mt_BtMbZibZUj)
- [Trigraphs](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/trigraphs-mt_roAgL1rQRF)

## Opens up

- [Suffixes](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/suffixes-mt_FYK8m6eHQm)
- [Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/alternative-spellings-for-known-sounds-mt_OgJPbGkrYk)