drinking
nounThe action of swallowing liquid to get water or other drinks into your body.
adjectiveSafe and clean enough for someone to swallow.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: DR Blend
D and R blend together — you hear both sounds! Like in 'drop' and 'drink'.
The blend DR combines /d/ and /r/ spoken quickly together.
Examples
Phonics Rule: Short I
The letter I makes a short sound, like in 'sit' and 'big'.
When the letter I appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short I sound /ɪ/. This is one of the trickiest short vowels because it sounds similar to short E.
Tip
I says /ɪ/ like an itch you can't miss.
Examples
Phonics Rule: NK End Blend
NK at the end of a syllable makes the /ŋk/ sound, like in 'sink', 'bank', and 'drink'.
NK blends the nasal /ŋ/ (like in 'sing') with /k/. The N in NK is not a regular /n/ — it shifts to /ŋ/ because of the K that follows.
Tip
NK ends with a clunk — sink, bank, drink!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ING
Adding -ING to a verb shows something is happening right now, like 'running' and 'playing'.
The suffix -ing is added to verbs to show an ongoing action (present participle). Sometimes the base word changes: drop silent E ('make' → 'making'), double final consonant ('run' → 'running').
Examples
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