Common Letter Pairs: TH, ER, ING and How They Help

English has predictable patterns. Knowing them helps your eyes find words quickly.

Common pairs

Pair	Examples
TH	THE, THAT, MOUTH
ER	WATER, FLOWER, TIGER
IN	RAIN, WINTER
ON	MOON, LION
RE	RED, MORE
AN	PLANT, BANANA
ST	STAR, FOREST
CH	CHAIR, BEACH
SH	SHIP, FISH

Common endings

• -ING: PLAYING, SINGING
• -ED: JUMPED, PAINTED
• -ER: RUNNER, TEACHER
• -TION: NATION, ACTION
• -LY: QUICKLY, SLOWLY

How it helps

Instead of searching for a single letter, search for the pair or ending:

• For PLAYING, look for ING.
• For GARDEN, look for DEN or EN.
• For CHAIR, look for CH.

Double letters

Words with double letters are easier to spot: BALL, COFFEE, BUTTON. Scan for LL, FF or TT.

Silent and odd letters

Watch for words with unusual patterns, such as KNIFE (silent K) or ISLAND (silent S). These pairs may be unexpected, so look for the letters in the grid, not just the sound.

Practise

• Pick a word and try to find its most distinctive chunk.
• Notice which pairs appear most often in the grids you solve.

Tips

1. Search for chunks, not single letters.
2. Learn common endings.
3. Use double letters as anchors.

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