Consonant Strings

Posted by: Josef Essberger

Every syllable in English must have at least one vowel sound, or does it?

Normally, every syllable in English must have at least one vowel (or vowel sound). So it’s quite surprising to think that there are words with 5 or more consonants in a row.

Here are a few words with 5-letter consonant strings:

BIRTHPLACE, BREASTSTROKE, DOWNSTREAM, EIGHTHS, MATCHSTICK, NIGHTCLOTHES, NIGHTCLUB, NIGHTDRESS, STRENGTHS, THOUSANDTHS

Here are two words with 6 consonants in a row:

CATCHPHRASE, KNIGHTSBRIDGE

Can you think of any more? There are quite a few.

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Posted by Josef Essberger November 2007
Contributor: Josef Essberger, founder of EnglishClub. Originally from London, England, Josef is the author of several books for learners of English including English Prepositions List and Learn English in 7.

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3 comments

• Dominic de Takats says:
  

  rhythms 7

• Philip says:
  

  RHYTHM, that’s a 6’er!

  BTW, thank you for the post, I came across it whilst Googling for words with 5 or more consonants. I am working on a spam filter and I need a list of “safe” words to check against. Ta.

• Abdulfatah says:
  

  Thank you,

  Really you have put vey ineresting subjects.