Name a word that uses the vowel team to spell the long 'e' sound.

Name a word that uses the vowel team to spell the long 'e' sound.

• A. sip
• B. sit
• C. sow
• D. sea

Answer: (D)

Recognizing how vowel teams spell the long vowel sounds is key. A pair of vowels often works together to make one long sound, and for the long e sound, a common spelling is the digraph ea. In sea, the letters ea come together after s and produce the long e sound /siː/, which is heard as the name of the letter E. The other words don’t use a vowel team to spell long e: sip and sit have a single vowel with a short i sound, and sow uses ow for a different sound. So sea is the one that uses a vowel team to spell the long e sound.

Recognizing how vowel teams spell the long vowel sounds is key. A pair of vowels often works together to make one long sound, and for the long e sound, a common spelling is the digraph ea. In sea, the letters ea come together after s and produce the long e sound /siː/, which is heard as the name of the letter E. The other words don’t use a vowel team to spell long e: sip and sit have a single vowel with a short i sound, and sow uses ow for a different sound. So sea is the one that uses a vowel team to spell the long e sound.