2nd Grade spelling
2nd Grade Soft C and Soft G Words
Spelling words where c says s and g says j, like city, once, range, message and language. Play hangman or print a worksheet with an answer key.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: When c or g comes before e, i or y it usually says its soft sound: c says /s/ (city) and g says /j/ (gem).
The letters c and g each have two sounds. Usually they are hard, as in cat and go, but before e, i or y they often turn soft: c says /s/ as in city and g says /j/ as in range. This is one of the rare spelling rules that works most of the time, which is why second grade is a good time to teach it.
The list is arranged in two groups. Soft c has since, city, once, service, office, central, council and practice. Soft g has college, range, language, message, image, damage and village. Each word was checked by pronunciation to make sure the c or g really makes the soft sound. Some words, such as largest and larger, show the soft g in a suffixed form, and success and access show a double c where the first is hard and the second is soft. Gift, get and give are left out because g before i or e is not always soft.
28 entries. Our solver needed 1.8 wrong guesses on average: 12 easy, 14 medium and 2 hard. The toughest is city (6 misses), the quickest process (0).
soft c
- since Medium · 2
- city Hard · 6
- once Medium · 2
- service Medium · 2
- office Medium · 3
- process Easy · 0
- certain Easy · 0
- source Medium · 3
- central Easy · 1
- council Medium · 2
- practice Easy · 0
- success Easy · 1
- access Easy · 0
- percent Easy · 1
soft g
- college Medium · 2
- range Medium · 3
- language Medium · 2
- message Medium · 3
- region Easy · 0
- image Medium · 3
- marriage Medium · 3
- damage Easy · 1
- largest Easy · 1
- exchange Easy · 0
- engine Easy · 0
- larger Hard · 5
- village Medium · 2
- agent Medium · 2
Words worth a closer look
- onceSoft c with a silent e, but the first sound is /w/, so it begins like won. A high-frequency word that does not follow phonics rules.
- successTwo c's in a row, and the first is hard (k) while the second is soft (s). A good example of how the letters can split.
- languageContains a u after the g that is pronounced, unlike guard. The soft g is in the final syllable.
- marriageThe age ending makes soft g, as in damage and village. A common suffix pattern.
- practiceAs a noun it ends in ice, as a verb it is spelled practise in British English. US spelling uses practice for both.
Teaching it
Students who learn the rule will over-apply it, so teach the exceptions too. Girl, get, give and gift have hard g before i or e. In writing, the typical errors are using s for soft c (writing sity for city) and j for soft g (writing jem for gem), which is reasonable but not standard spelling. Show how the e keeps the soft sound in words like range and since.
Hangman can help students notice the letters that follow c and g. After a round, ask which letter came next and whether it triggered the soft sound. Then use the printable to have students underline every c and g and write s or j above each one, treating the soft sound as a code they can read.
Print a 2nd Grade Soft C and Soft G Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 2nd Grade AI WordsSpelling words with the ai vowel team for long a, like rain, mail and paint. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade AY WordsSpelling words ending in ay, such as day, play, away and birthday. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EE WordsSpelling words with ee for the long e sound, including see, need, week and queen. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EA WordsSpelling words where ea makes the long e sound, like team, meat, steam and beach. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade OA WordsSpelling words with oa for the long o sound, such as boat, coat, road and soap. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade IGH WordsSpelling words with igh for the long i sound, like night, light, high and bright. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.