Which syllable type uses two vowels together to form one sound?

• A. Consonant-le
• B. Open
• C. Vowel team
• D. Silent e

Answer: (C)

Vowel teams are when two vowels sit together in a syllable to make one sound. This happens in words like boat (oa), rain (ai), and see (ee), where the pair blends into a single vowel sound rather than two separate sounds. These pairs are often called vowel digraphs and can produce long vowel sounds or other blended sounds formed by the combination. Understanding this helps you see why the two vowels in those positions don’t each spark their own separate sound, but instead work together to produce one sound for that part of the word. Other syllable types you might see—such as a consonant followed by le at the end of a word, a syllable that ends with a vowel saying its name, or a final e that makes the preceding vowel long—are different patterns, but they don’t describe the two-vowel-one-sound idea.