DR Blend: Speech Therapy Guide, Words & Games
The /dr/ blend is written /dɹ/ in the phonetic alphabet, and most children master it by age 7. This guide covers how to make the /dr/ blend, 28 practice words split across initial and medial position, and the errors children make most often.
Example DR Blend words: drink, drive, dream, drop (beginning); children, hundred, address, bedroom (middle).
The /dr/ blend joins the /d/ and /r/ sounds — the "dr" in dragon, dress, drive and drum. In ordinary American speech the /d/ and the /r/ blur together and the pair often sounds close to a "j" — that is normal, not an error.
How to Make the DR Blend
Do not over-correct the slightly "jr" quality of this blend; it is how fluent speakers say it. Practise instead on the /r/ half being present at all: "duh-rrr-agon" slowed down, then blended. A "dwagon" is a /r/ problem, not a /dr/ problem.
IPA Symbol: /dɹ/
Most children master the /dr/ blend by age 7. Blends arrive after the sounds they are made of: the /D/ and /R/ sounds each have to be reliable on their own before the cluster will hold, which is also the order to practise them in. Two-sound blends are generally in place somewhere between ages 4 and 7, tracking the sounds inside them — the ones containing /L/ or /R/ come in later than the rest.
Common DR Blend Errors
- Cluster reduction — producing only the /D/ sound and dropping the rest of the blend. This is by far the most common blend error.
- Cluster reduction — producing only the /R/ sound and dropping the rest of the blend. This is by far the most common blend error.
- Gliding — the /R/ inside the blend turning into a /W/, so the cluster keeps both sounds but loses the /R/.
- The two sounds running together into something close to /J/. Ordinary American speech does this in /dr/, so it is a feature of the blend rather than a mistake to correct.
DR Blend Word Lists by Position
Practice these words organized by where the /dr/ sound appears. Start with the position your child finds easiest, or open the complete DR Blend word list.
Initial DR Blend Words
/dr/ at the beginning of words
Medial DR Blend Words
/dr/ in the middle of words
More DR Blend Word Lists & Resources
Related Sounds
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