Ted Power
English Language Learning and Teaching

Consonant Clusters

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beginning with voiced bilabial nasal---- / m /


001---------mp (final) -------bump, camp, hemp, limp, lump, ramp

bump I knew I'd bump into him sooner or later.
camp There's been an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease in a Butlin's Holiday Camp.
hemp They were woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.
limp The memory seemed to worsen her limp; her hip knocked his as they walked.
ramp They drove up the ramp from the underground car park at Scotland Yard.

002---------mps (final) ----- amps, camps, lamps, lumps, mumps, trumps

amps Divide the watts by the volts to calculate the amps.
lamps We turned our bedside lamps on.
lumps She had two enormous lumps on her head.
trumps Two rounds of trumps can be drawn with the Ace and King.

003---------mf (final) -------lymph, nymph

lymph The characteristic swelling of the lymph glands between the lower jaw often take several days to develop.
lymph It causes a flu-like illness with high fever and swollen lymph nodes.
nymph Usually they were portraits; occasionally, the whole body of a naked nymph.
nymph Iris was most often depicted as a NYMPH with golden, winged sandals and a herald's staff.

004---------mft (final) ------triumphed

triumphed The head had triumphed over the heart.
triumphed Manchester United triumphed 2-;1 against Chelsea after being a goal down.
triumphed In the end technology triumphed over brute strength.
triumphed This mirrored the belief that medical science had not only triumphed over disease and illness in the past but would continue to do so in future.

005---------mfs (final) ------nymphs

nymphs Stone nymphs make an interesting centrepiece.
nymphs What have naked nymphs to do with mortal expectations?
nymphs If we enjoy sex we're nymphs and if we don't we're frigid.
nymphs Nymphs, gnomes and salamanders

006---------mt (final) -------camped, dreamt revamped, lumped

camped We camped on an island of palm trees.
dreamt I never dreamt we'd reach a place like this.
dreamt I got very drunk, and dreamt that I understood Walt Disney.
revamped Crumbling schools could be revamped and new equipment provided with £4 billion.
lumped All the countries of the South cannot be lumped together if the processes which affect education are to be understood.

007---------mt (medial) ------empty, temptation

empty Her head was ringing like an empty glass.
empty If you empty a rubbish bin onto the ground, it doesn't mean the rubbish will disappear.
temptation Don't put opportunity and temptation in the way of thieves.
temptation Resist the temptation to light up, especially in the mornings.

008---------mtr (medial) -----temptress

temptress Eve the temptress, created by a male deity, was formed from the rib of Adam.
temptress Why had she behaved like a temptress in a fifties movie?
temptress That is the mouth of a temptress, a seductress.
temptress The idealized goddess and the erotic temptress were realized in the persons of different women.

009---------mts (final) -------tempts

tempts The Devil tempts all God's creatures so as to keep goodness out of the world.
tempts If an estate car tempts you, it could pay to choose one with the option of an extra row of seats.
tempts If something which we know is wrong tempts us, then we must make every effort to avoid it, by putting our energy to better use.
tempts If, however, you have started at the Bar, there is no reason why you should not apply for any local government post that tempts you.

010---------md (final) -------aimed, assumed, formed, roamed, shamed

aimed Each collection is aimed at a very specific market.
assumed In many academic disciplines no prior knowledge is required or assumed.
formed The company is now formed and trading can commence.
roamed In North America the mighty bison once roamed in tens of millions.
shamed Wife's family speak out as shamed Cabinet Minister resigns at last.
seemed He seemed guilty enough to me.------* note the rules for deletion of / d /

011---------mst (final) ------glimpsed

glimpsed With his naked eye Joseph had glimpsed only a faint smudge of coastline.
glimpsed She glimpsed him through the glass walls of his studio as she walked past.
glimpsed Further along the grassy track, half hidden behind trees, a church roof can be glimpsed.
glimpsed Her well-modelled shoulders could be glimpsed through her muslin dress.

012---------mz (final) -------comes, terms, times

comes See what he says when he comes in.
terms It is divided into three 10-week terms a year.
terms We have got to make sure that those people who are nominated or delegated within the terms of the contract, are people who have the knowledge and experience.
terms They failed to agree terms, so no contract was signed.
terms Define you terms at the beginning of your essay.
times Calls are charged at 36p min. off peak and 48p at all other times.

/ m / / p / / b / / f / / v / / θ / / ð / / n / / t / / d /
/ s / / z / / l / / ʧ / / ʤ / / ʃ / / ʒ / / ŋ / / k / / g /

Practice in use------------------------Index | Home | Back | Next

Paste words containing consonant clusters into the search engine
of The British National Corpus [opens search engine window ].

/ *mp / (final) -------amp bump camp champ chomp chump clamp cramp damp dump grump hemp hump imp jump kemp lamp limp lump pimp plump pomp pump ramp romp rump scamp scrimp slump stamp swamp thump tramp trump vamp.

/ *mf / (final) -------bumph humph lymph nymph triumph.

/ *mt / (final) -------dreamt.

/ *md / (final) -------affirmed aimed alarmed armed ashamed assumed beamed blamed boomed bloomed brimmed bummed calmed charmed chimed claimed condemned creamed dammed damned deemed dimmed doomed dreamed drummed esteemed exclaimed exhumed famed farmed fathomed filmed firmed flamed formed framed fumed gamed gleamed groomed gummed harmed hemmed informed jammed loomed maimed mimed named performed perfumed primed reclaimed redeemed resumed rhymed roamed screamed seemed shamed slimmed steamed swarmed tamed teemed termed timed transformed trimmed vacuumed warmed welcomed wormed zoomed.

/ *mz / (final) -------Note that voiced / m / is followed by voiced / z / accustoms affirms aims alarms albums anagrams anthems arms baptisms bedrooms booms bosoms bridegrooms brooms bums calms charms chasms chums claims clams colloquialisms condoms confirms conforms crams creams criticisms customs dams deems deforms diagrams dims esteems exams farms fathoms films foams forms freedoms gems germs gleams grams grooms gums gyms hems hums informs intercoms items jams kingdoms kissagrams looms logjams maims maxims minims modems museums mushrooms muslims norms orgasms palms performs pilgrims plums poems prams psalms qualms rams realms reams referendums rhythms roams rooms screams seams seems slams slims slums spasms steams stems storms streams strums sums swarms swims systems teams teems terms telegrams theorems trams trims uniforms vacuums victims warms worms zooms.


False Friends

* Note the deletion of / d / in "seemed guilty" / ˈsi:m(d) ˈgɪltɪ /, when preceding consonant sound is also voiced and following consonant sound is any other than / h /.

The "n" following the "m" is silent in "damned" / ˈdæmd / and "condemned" / kənˈdemd /.

The letter "p" is silent in "empty", "tempt", "tempts", "temptress", and "temptation".

The letter "p" is often omitted in "glimpse", "glimpses" and "glimpsed".


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