What is a high-frequency spelling pattern and an example word?

What is a high-frequency spelling pattern and an example word?

• A. -ight, yielding "night"
• B. -tion, yielding "action"
• C. -ed, yielding "walked"
• D. -er, yielding "teacher"

Answer: (A)

High-frequency spelling patterns are common letter combinations that show up in many words and help readers map sounds to letters. The pattern -ight is one of these because it appears in a large number of everyday words and consistently represents the long I sound, as in light, night, right, sight, and might. In the given example, night uses that exact sequence to spell the /aɪ/ sound, with the gh usually not spoken, which is a classic feature learners notice with this pattern. This makes -ight a clear, reusable clue for decoding many words, which is why it’s the best choice for illustrating a high-frequency pattern with a concrete example. Other options point to different kinds of word-building patterns—suffixes that change meaning rather than map to a single sound. The -tion ending marks nouns formed from verbs (action), and the -ed ending is used to show past tense with variable pronunciation, while -er can create agent nouns or adjectives. Those illustrate important spelling patterns too, but they don’t demonstrate a single, common sound–spelling pattern as directly as -ight does for the long I sound.

High-frequency spelling patterns are common letter combinations that show up in many words and help readers map sounds to letters. The pattern -ight is one of these because it appears in a large number of everyday words and consistently represents the long I sound, as in light, night, right, sight, and might. In the given example, night uses that exact sequence to spell the /aɪ/ sound, with the gh usually not spoken, which is a classic feature learners notice with this pattern. This makes -ight a clear, reusable clue for decoding many words, which is why it’s the best choice for illustrating a high-frequency pattern with a concrete example.

Other options point to different kinds of word-building patterns—suffixes that change meaning rather than map to a single sound. The -tion ending marks nouns formed from verbs (action), and the -ed ending is used to show past tense with variable pronunciation, while -er can create agent nouns or adjectives. Those illustrate important spelling patterns too, but they don’t demonstrate a single, common sound–spelling pattern as directly as -ight does for the long I sound.