Phonics word list

THR blend words

In short

Thr is a three-letter blend: the digraph th (unvoiced, as in thin) followed by r, as in three, throw and thrill. Our checked list has 55 words that start with the thr blend.

At a glance

Words in our list: 55
By syllables: one syllable: 32 · two syllables: 22 · three or more syllables: 1
Taught in: Lesson 35c in the sequence

Thr words, most common first

Spelling units show how each word breaks into the letters that spell one sound; a_e is a vowel and silent e working together. Readable after is the first lesson where a student can sound out the whole word.

One syllable

32 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
three	th·r·ee	1	Lesson 85
threw	th·r·ew	1	Lesson 91
throw	th·r·ow	1	Lesson 86
threat	th·r·ea·t	1	Lesson 94
thrown	th·r·ow·n	1	Lesson 86
throws	th·r·ow·s	1	Lesson 86
through	th·r·ough	1	Not in the sequence
thread	th·r·ea·d	1	Lesson 94
throat	th·r·oa·t	1	Lesson 86
thrust	th·r·u·s·t	1	Lesson 47
threats	th·r·ea·t·s	1	Lesson 94
throats	th·r·oa·t·s	1	Lesson 86
thrusts	th·r·u·s·t·s	1	Lesson 47
throb	th·r·o·b	1	Lesson 47
thrash	th·r·a·sh	1	Lesson 47
threes	th·r·ee·s	1	Lesson 85
thresh	th·r·e·sh	1	Lesson 47
thrice	th·r·i_e·c	1	Lesson 60
thrift	th·r·i·f·t	1	Lesson 47
thrill	th·r·i·ll	1	Lesson 47
thrive	th·r·i_e·v	1	Lesson 55
throne	th·r·o_e·n	1	Lesson 56
throng	th·r·o·ng	1	Lesson 51
threads	th·r·ea·d·s	1	Lesson 94
thrifts	th·r·i·f·t·s	1	Lesson 47
thrills	th·r·i·ll·s	1	Lesson 47
thrived	th·r·i_e·v·d	1	Lesson 64
thrives	th·r·i_e·v·s	1	Lesson 55
throngs	th·r·o·ng·s	1	Lesson 51
thrashed	th·r·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
thrilled	th·r·i·ll·ed	1	Lesson 64
thronged	th·r·o·ng·ed	1	Lesson 64

Two syllables

22 words, most common first.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
throwing	th·r·ow·i·ng	2	Lesson 86
throughout	th·r·ough·ou·t	2	Not in the sequence
threaten	th·r·ea·t·e·n	2	Lesson 94
threatens	th·r·ea·t·e·n·s	2	Lesson 94
threshold	th·r·e·sh·o·l·d	2	Lesson 72
thrusting	th·r·u·s·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
threatened	th·r·ea·t·e·n·ed	2	Lesson 94
throughput	th·r·ough·p·u·t	2	Not in the sequence
thrifty	th·r·i·f·t·y	2	Lesson 74
thrashes	th·r·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
threaded	th·r·ea·d·ed	2	Lesson 94
thresher	th·r·e·sh·er	2	Lesson 80
thriller	th·r·i·ll·er	2	Lesson 80
thriving	th·r·i·v·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
thrashing	th·r·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
threading	th·r·ea·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 94
thrillers	th·r·i·ll·er·s	2	Lesson 80
thrilling	th·r·i·ll·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
throbbing	th·r·o·bb·i·ng	2	Lesson 107
throwback	th·r·ow·b·a·ck	2	Lesson 86
threadbare	th·r·ea·d·b·are	2	Lesson 112
thresholds	th·r·e·sh·o·l·d·s	2	Lesson 72

Three or more syllables

1 word, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
threatening	th·r·ea·t·e·n·i·ng	3	Lesson 94

When do these words become readable?

The lessons where the most words on this page become decodable. Words marked not in the sequence have a spelling the sequence never teaches as a pattern.

Lessons where the most words on this page become readable
Readable after	Words
Lesson 47	9
Lesson 64	4
Lesson 65	3
Lesson 72	2
Lesson 80	3
Lesson 85	2
Lesson 86	7
Lesson 94	10
Not in the sequence	3

How do you teach thr words?

Teach thr only after th is solid. "Th says /th/. Add /r/. Thr." Practice thrill, thrift, throb, thrash. Tongue out for /th/, then pull it back for /r/.

What mistake do students make with thr words?

Students say fr for thr (free for three). That is often a speech pattern. For spelling, show the th card and ask the student to feel the tongue between the teeth.

Where do thr words come in the sequence?

Thr comes after the th digraph, often late in the blend lessons. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 35c.

Exceptions worth knowing

In words like anthrax and athlete, th and the next consonant split. Thr is always unvoiced.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 35c or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

Throb, throb, went the drum.
The thrill of the trip was fun.

Questions people ask

What are 5 thr words?

Three, threw, throw, threat, thrown. Those are the five most common of the 55 words that start with the thr blend in our checked list.

Is thr a blend or a digraph?

It is a digraph (th) plus r, so it works as a blend: two sounds, three letters.

What are some thr words?

Three, throw, through, thrill, threat, thread, throat and throne.

When can a student read thr words?

Thr words are taught at Lesson 35c in the lesson sequence we use. 0 of the 55 words on this page can be sounded out by then; the rest wait for a pattern taught later, and the tables show the lesson for each word.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of common English words, each split into spelling units and checked against a pronouncing dictionary, so a word is listed under the sound its spelling really makes. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out. The readable after lesson comes from our decodability engine, which checks each spelling unit and syllable pattern against the lesson sequence. You can run your own text through the same engine with the free decodable text checker.