Word Families
Kindergarten · English · Study Guide
Learn how groups of words share the same ending pattern to help you read faster.
A word family is a group of words that all share the same ending letters and sound. The -at family has words like cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, and sat. They all end the same way! Once you know how to read one word in a family, you can read all the others just by changing the first letter.
Word families make reading much easier. If you already know 'cat,' you can look at the letters in 'bat,' change the /k/ sound to /b/, and — you read a brand new word! The same trick works with 'hat,' 'mat,' 'rat,' and 'sat.' You just learned six words at once!
Some of the most helpful word families for beginning readers are: the -at family (cat, bat, hat), the -an family (can, man, fan, pan, ran), the -ig family (big, dig, pig, wig), and the -og family (dog, log, fog, hog). There is also the -en family (hen, ten, pen, men) and the -ot family (hot, dot, pot, lot).
When you are reading and you see an unfamiliar word, look at the ending. Do you recognize the pattern? If you see '-og' at the end, think of 'dog' and you will know how to say it. Word families are like secret reading shortcuts!
| Family | Pattern | Words |
|---|---|---|
| -at family | -at | cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, sat |
| -an family | -an | can, man, fan, pan, ran, tan |
| -ig family | -ig | big, dig, pig, wig, fig, jig |
| -og family | -og | dog, log, fog, hog, bog, jog |
| -en family | -en | hen, ten, pen, men, den, yen |
Key terms
- word family
- A group of words that share the same ending pattern, like cat, bat, hat (-at family)
- pattern
- The ending letters shared by all words in a family
- beginning sound
- The first letter sound that changes from word to word in a family
Flashcards
- -at family
- cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, sat — all end in -at
- -an family
- can, man, fan, pan, ran, tan — all end in -an
- -ig family
- big, dig, pig, wig, fig — all end in -ig
- -og family
- dog, log, fog, hog, jog — all end in -og
- -en family
- hen, ten, pen, men, den — all end in -en
- word family
- A group of words sharing the same ending — once you know one, you can read them all!
Practice questions
Which word belongs to the -at word family?
- pig
- dog
- hat
- hen
Show answer
Answer: hat
Hat ends in -at, making it part of the -at word family with cat, bat, mat, rat, sat.
'Can,' 'man,' and 'fan' all belong to the -an word family.
Show answer
Answer: True
Can, man, and fan all end in -an — they are all members of the -an word family.
In the word family -og, 'dog,' 'log,' and '___ ' are all members.
Show answer
Answer: fog
Fog ends in -og, making it part of the -og family along with dog, log, hog, and jog.
What makes words part of the same word family?
- They start with the same letter
- They have the same ending pattern
- They are the same length
- They all have three letters
Show answer
Answer: They have the same ending pattern
Word families are defined by shared endings, like -at, -an, or -ig. The first letter changes but the ending stays the same.
'Pig' and 'big' are in the same word family.
Show answer
Answer: True
Pig and big both end in -ig, making them members of the -ig word family.
Fun facts
- There are over 500 common English words that belong to just 37 basic word families — mastering those 37 patterns unlocks a huge chunk of reading!
- Poets love word families because they create rhymes naturally — almost every poem uses at least one word family.
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