C vs. K; Unlocking the Spelling Mystery with the C and K Rules

The sound /k/ is one of the sounds with the most variants in it’s spellings. You can spell this sound using a c or a k or the letter combination of ck. That can make it seem very complicated to know how to correctly spell this sound. Fortunately there are rules to help guide us to know which spelling to use when.

We will start with c. You can use the letter c to spell the sound /k/ which is called the hard sound of the letter c at the beginning of words or the end of words. It can be used at the beginning of words when the letter coming after the /k/ sound is an a, o, u or any consonant. Some words that show this are cat, cot, cut and crash. You can use it for the /k/ sound at the end of words, but generally only after the short i sound as in the suffix -ic in the word iconic or in a words like epic. One of the best ways I have seen to remember the times to use c for the /k/ sound at the beginning of words is a drawing of a cat. Cat starts with a c because the next letter is an a. In the picture of the cat, the eyes are a’s, the nose is an o and the mouth is a u. The collar on the cat has the word consonants on it. Below is a picture of the cat that has everything but the consonant collar. I downloaded this picture as a free download from Ashley Ann on Teachers Pay Teachers. And here is a link to a sort that I have in my store, Basics Rethought, at Teacher’s Pay Teachers for students to use for practice or as proof of mastery after learning about the rules for both c and k at the beginning of words.

Use c to spell /k/ before an a, o, u or any consonant!

The letter k is used to spell the sound /k/ before an e, i or a y. Examples of this are key, kite, and the name Kyle. The best way that I have seen this represented is with a kite. I am posting a photo of the kite below, again from the free download from Ashley Ann on Teachers Pay Teachers. The reason we must use a k to spell /k/ before these letters is because when c comes before the letters e, i, and y, it makes it’s soft sound /s/ instead of the /k/ sound. Examples of this are city, center and cyclone. This information needs to be taught to students with the above information about using the letter c to spell /k/ at the beginning of words before students are ready to use my c/k Picture sort. K is also used at the end of words when the /k/ sound follows a consonant sound or a long vowel sound like in trunk and meek. K is also the spelling for /k/ in silent or magic e words as in make or like. This is because when c is followed by a silent e it makes it’s soft sound of /s/ instead of the hard sound of /k/ as in mice.

Use the letter k to spell /k/ before an e, i or y.

Our last rule to talk about today is for using c and k together to spell the /k/ sound. -ck is used to spell the /k/ sound at the end of one syllable words when it comes directly after a short vowel sound as in the word duck. This is the reason you will often see a hyphen in front of -ck on Phonics cards or in teacher’s manuals or writings about Phonics. The hyphen stands in for the rest of the word that would come before the -ck since -ck is only used at the end of words.

That’s it!

Use c to spell /k/ at the beginning of words before an a, o, u or any consonant.

Use k to spell /k/ at the beginning of words before an e, i, or y.

Use c to spell /k/ at the end of words following the short i sound.

Use k to spell /k/ at the end of words after a consonant or long vowel sound or in a silent e word.

Use -ck to spell /k/ at the end of one syllable words directly after a short vowel sound.

Please share how it goes teaching these rules to your learners! If you have specific questions I can help, with please comment below. If you find this post helpful in teaching your reader please like or comment below! Thanks for reading this, happy reading AND happy teaching!!