Word family

Long i word families

The answer

Long i word families are groups of one-syllable words that share a rime with the long i sound, like -ine, -ight, -ide and -y. Our lexicon has 177 public words in 21 such families of three or more words, listed family by family.

What do these families share?

Long i families come in three main spellings: i with silent e (ine, ide, ice, ite), igh (ight) and y at the end (by, cry, fly). The ind and ild families (find, wild) are the odd ones: they look like closed syllables but have a long vowel, so students learn them as chunks. Rhymes cross spellings here too: kite and light, bite and bright.

The families and their words

The -y family, as in by

18 words

The -y family, as in by
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
by	b + y	Lesson 73
my	m + y	Lesson 73
cry	cr + y	Lesson 73
dry	dr + y	Lesson 73
fly	fl + y	Lesson 73
fry	fr + y	Lesson 73
guy	gu + y	not taught
try	tr + y	Lesson 73
why	wh + y	Lesson 73
shy	sh + y	Lesson 73
sky	sk + y	Lesson 73
spy	sp + y	Lesson 73
thy	th + y	Lesson 73
ply	pl + y	Lesson 73
pry	pr + y	Lesson 73
sly	sl + y	Lesson 73
wry	wr + y	Lesson 98
spry	spr + y	Lesson 73

The -ight family, as in fight

16 words

The -ight family, as in fight
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
fight	f + ight	Lesson 87
light	l + ight	Lesson 87
might	m + ight	Lesson 87
night	n + ight	Lesson 87
right	r + ight	Lesson 87
sight	s + ight	Lesson 87
tight	t + ight	Lesson 87
bright	br + ight	Lesson 87
flight	fl + ight	Lesson 87
slight	sl + ight	Lesson 87
height	he + ight	Lesson 87
knight	kn + ight	Lesson 98
blight	bl + ight	Lesson 87
fright	fr + ight	Lesson 87
plight	pl + ight	Lesson 87
wright	wr + ight	Lesson 98

The -ine family, as in fine

15 words

The -ine family, as in fine
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
fine	f + ine	Lesson 55
line	l + ine	Lesson 55
mine	m + ine	Lesson 55
nine	n + ine	Lesson 55
dine	d + ine	Lesson 55
sine	s + ine	Lesson 55
shine	sh + ine	Lesson 55
pine	p + ine	Lesson 55
vine	v + ine	Lesson 55
brine	br + ine	Lesson 55
spine	sp + ine	Lesson 55
swine	sw + ine	Lesson 55
twine	tw + ine	Lesson 55
whine	wh + ine	Lesson 55
shrine	shr + ine	Lesson 55

The -ide family, as in hide

14 words

The -ide family, as in hide
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
hide	h + ide	Lesson 55
ride	r + ide	Lesson 55
side	s + ide	Lesson 55
wide	w + ide	Lesson 55
guide	gu + ide	not taught
pride	pr + ide	Lesson 55
slide	sl + ide	Lesson 55
bide	b + ide	Lesson 55
tide	t + ide	Lesson 55
bride	br + ide	Lesson 55
chide	ch + ide	Lesson 55
glide	gl + ide	Lesson 55
snide	sn + ide	Lesson 55
stride	str + ide	Lesson 55

The -ice family, as in ice

13 words

The -ice family, as in ice
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
ice	(none) + ice	Lesson 60
nice	n + ice	Lesson 60
vice	v + ice	Lesson 60
price	pr + ice	Lesson 60
twice	tw + ice	Lesson 60
dice	d + ice	Lesson 60
mice	m + ice	Lesson 60
rice	r + ice	Lesson 60
slice	sl + ice	Lesson 60
lice	l + ice	Lesson 60
spice	sp + ice	Lesson 60
splice	spl + ice	Lesson 60
thrice	thr + ice	Lesson 60

The -ite family, as in bite

11 words

The -ite family, as in bite
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
bite	b + ite	Lesson 55
site	s + ite	Lesson 55
quite	qu + ite	Lesson 55
spite	sp + ite	Lesson 55
white	wh + ite	Lesson 55
write	wr + ite	Lesson 98
cite	c + ite	Lesson 117
kite	k + ite	Lesson 55
mite	m + ite	Lesson 55
rite	r + ite	Lesson 55
trite	tr + ite	Lesson 55

The -ile family, as in file

10 words

The -ile family, as in file
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
file	f + ile	Lesson 55
mile	m + ile	Lesson 55
pile	p + ile	Lesson 55
smile	sm + ile	Lesson 55
while	wh + ile	Lesson 55
tile	t + ile	Lesson 55
vile	v + ile	Lesson 55
bile	b + ile	Lesson 55
rile	r + ile	Lesson 55
guile	gu + ile	not taught

The -ire family, as in fire

9 words

The -ire family, as in fire
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
fire	f + ire	Lesson 55
wire	w + ire	Lesson 55
dire	d + ire	Lesson 55
hire	h + ire	Lesson 55
ire	(none) + ire	Lesson 55
mire	m + ire	Lesson 55
shire	sh + ire	Lesson 55
spire	sp + ire	Lesson 55
squire	squ + ire	Lesson 55

The -ime family, as in time

9 words

The -ime family, as in time
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
time	t + ime	Lesson 55
prime	pr + ime	Lesson 55
crime	cr + ime	Lesson 55
dime	d + ime	Lesson 55
lime	l + ime	Lesson 55
mime	m + ime	Lesson 55
chime	ch + ime	Lesson 55
grime	gr + ime	Lesson 55
slime	sl + ime	Lesson 55

The -ind family, as in bind

8 words

The -ind family, as in bind
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
bind	b + ind	Lesson 72
find	f + ind	Lesson 72
kind	k + ind	Lesson 72
mind	m + ind	Lesson 72
grind	gr + ind	Lesson 72
blind	bl + ind	Lesson 72
hind	h + ind	Lesson 72
rind	r + ind	Lesson 72

The -ipe family, as in pipe

8 words

The -ipe family, as in pipe
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
pipe	p + ipe	Lesson 55
wipe	w + ipe	Lesson 55
ripe	r + ipe	Lesson 55
gripe	gr + ipe	Lesson 55
snipe	sn + ipe	Lesson 55
swipe	sw + ipe	Lesson 55
tripe	tr + ipe	Lesson 55
stripe	str + ipe	Lesson 55

The -ive family, as in five

7 words

The -ive family, as in five
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
five	f + ive	Lesson 55
live	l + ive	Lesson 55
drive	dr + ive	Lesson 55
dive	d + ive	Lesson 55
strive	str + ive	Lesson 55
hive	h + ive	Lesson 55
thrive	thr + ive	Lesson 55

The -ike family, as in like

7 words

The -ike family, as in like
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
like	l + ike	Lesson 55
strike	str + ike	Lesson 55
spike	sp + ike	Lesson 55
bike	b + ike	Lesson 55
hike	h + ike	Lesson 55
mike	m + ike	Lesson 55
pike	p + ike	Lesson 55

The -ie family, as in die

5 words

The -ie family, as in die
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
die	d + ie	Lesson 87
lie	l + ie	Lesson 87
tie	t + ie	Lesson 87
pie	p + ie	Lesson 87
vie	v + ie	Lesson 87

The -ife family, as in life

5 words

The -ife family, as in life
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
life	l + ife	Lesson 55
wife	w + ife	Lesson 55
knife	kn + ife	Lesson 98
rife	r + ife	Lesson 55
strife	str + ife	Lesson 55

The -i family, as in i

4 words

The -i family, as in i
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
i	(none) + i	Lesson 68
pi	p + i	Lesson 68
hi	h + i	Lesson 68
chi	ch + i	Lesson 118

The -igh family, as in high

4 words

The -igh family, as in high
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
high	h + igh	Lesson 87
sigh	s + igh	Lesson 87
nigh	n + igh	Lesson 87
thigh	th + igh	Lesson 87

The -ye family, as in bye

4 words

The -ye family, as in bye
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
bye	b + ye	Lesson 73
dye	d + ye	Lesson 73
lye	l + ye	Lesson 73
rye	r + ye	Lesson 73

The -ibe family, as in tribe

4 words

The -ibe family, as in tribe
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
tribe	tr + ibe	Lesson 55
jibe	j + ibe	Lesson 55
bribe	br + ibe	Lesson 55
scribe	scr + ibe	Lesson 55

The -ise family, as in rise

3 words

The -ise family, as in rise
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
rise	r + ise	Lesson 55
wise	w + ise	Lesson 55
guise	gu + ise	not taught

The -ild family, as in wild

3 words

The -ild family, as in wild
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
wild	w + ild	Lesson 72
child	ch + ild	Lesson 72
mild	m + ild	Lesson 72

Word ladder: change one sound at a time

Every step is a real word from the list, and each one changes exactly one sound. Say the change aloud before the student writes the new word.

Word ladder for Long i families
Step	Word	The change
1	i	start here
2	ice	add /s/
3	ire	change /s/ to /r/
4	fire	add /f/
5	file	change /r/ to /l/
6	fine	change /l/ to /n/
7	find	add /d/
8	bind	change /f/ to /b/
9	kind	change /b/ to /k/
10	mind	change /k/ to /m/

How do you teach it?

Start with the i_e families, then the y family as an open syllable, then ight. Give ind and ild a small lesson of their own, so students don't read find with a short i.

"These words look closed: find, kind, mind. But the i says its name. That's the ind chunk. Read with me: find, kind, mind, grind."

What is the common error, and the fix?

Students read "find" as "finned" or "wild" with a short i, because the syllable looks closed. Spellers write "lite" for light. The fix for reading is to learn ind and ild as long i chunks. For spelling, know the ight family well; it is common and consistent.

Sort it: a hands-on activity

Sort long i cards by spelling: i_e, igh, y and ind. Then find the rhymes across piles, such as kite and light, and read them aloud.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of about 19,000 common words, each checked against a pronouncing dictionary and split into spelling units. Words a student meets in our assessments and progress-monitoring probes are left out, so practicing a list never rehearses a test. A family is every one-syllable base word (no suffix, not a compound) whose rime, the vowel unit and every unit after it, has the same spelling and the same sounds, so bead and bread are in different families. Ladders use only words from the list, and each step changes exactly one sound.

"Readable after" is the first lesson in the lesson sequence at which our decodability engine finds every sound-spelling in the word taught; "not taught" means the word has a spelling the sequence does not cover, so it is read with help. You can check your own lists and passages with the free decodable text checker.

Questions people ask

How many long i word families are there?

In our lexicon, 21 rimes with the long i sound have at least three public one-syllable words, 177 words in all. Smaller families exist, but two words are not enough to practice a pattern.

Why does find have a long i?

Before nd and ld, a single i is often long: find, kind, wild, child. It is a pattern students learn as a chunk, since the closed-syllable rule would predict a short vowel.

Why teach word families at all?

Families let a student read many words from one chunk, which builds speed and confidence. They work best alongside sound-by-sound blending, so a student can still read a word when no family fits.