What are CVC words?
When children start learning to read, one of the very first steps is understanding vowels and CVC words. Let’s explore what they are, why they are important, and how you can support your child at home.
Before understanding CVC words we need to understand the vowels in English.
What Are Vowels?
In English, we have 5 vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u.
Vowels are special because they are the sounds that make our words easy to pronounce. Without vowels, words would just be hard clusters of sounds. For example, try saying “c” and “t” without a vowel in the middle .It’s almost impossible! But when we add a vowel, we get cat, a proper word that we can read and say.
What Are CVC Words?
CVC words are three-letter words made up of a Consonant – Vowel – Consonant.
Examples: cat, pen, dog, sun.
These words are simple, but they are the foundation of reading bigger words. Once children master CVC words, they can start reading longer words like sand, jump, or even basket.
Why Are CVC Words Important?
-
They help children understand how sounds blend together.
-
They are short and easy to decode.
-
They build confidence in early readers.
-
They prepare children for reading longer and more complex words.
You can also download our free CVC words worksheets to practice at home.
How Do We Teach CVC Words?
The key is blending. Children first learn the individual sounds (phonics) of each letter, and then they blend them together to read the whole word.
For example:
-
/c/ – /a/ – /t/ → cat
-
/d/ – /o/ – /g/ → dog
Parents can help by slowly saying each sound and encouraging children to put them together.
List of CVC Words by Vowels
Short a words
-
-at family: cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, sat
-
-an family: can, man, pan, fan, ran, tan
-
-ap family: cap, map, nap, tap, gap, lap
-
-am family: jam, ram, ham, dam, yam
-
-ag family: bag, rag, tag, wag, nag
Short e words
-
-et family: pet, get, let, met, net, set, vet, wet
-
-en family: pen, den, hen, men, ten
-
-ed family: bed, red, fed, led, wed
-
-eg family: leg, peg, beg
Short i words
-
-it family: sit, bit, fit, hit, kit, lit, pit
-
-in family: pin, fin, win, tin, kin
-
-ig family: pig, dig, wig, big, rig, fig
-
-ip family: tip, sip, dip, lip, zip
Short o words
-
-ot family: pot, not, hot, cot, dot, lot, rot
-
-op family: top, hop, mop, pop, cop, sop
-
-og family: dog, log, jog, fog, hog
-
-ox family: box, fox
Short u words
-
-ut family: cut, hut, nut, gut, rut
-
-un family: sun, run, fun, bun, gun
-
-ug family: mug, bug, rug, jug, hug, tug
-
-up family: cup, pup, sup
You can find a full practice set in our CVC words worksheets.
What Comes After CVC Words?
Once children master CVC words, the next steps are:
-
Blends and digraphs (like bl, st, sh, ch)
-
CVCC and CCVC words (four-letter words like lamp, stop)
-
Magic ‘e’ words (like cake, bike, rope) which teach long vowel sounds
