-en Word Family: Word List & Practice
-en Word Family words follow one repeating pattern, so a child who can read one of them has most of what they need to read the rest. This list has 10 kindergarten-level words plus 4 decodable sentences. Practice them out loud — the most common error is confusing short e and short a in words like 'hen' versus 'han'.
- hen
- pen
- ten
- men
- den
- Ben
- ken
- then
- when
- wren
Practice these words out loud
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Try these out loudDecodable Sentences
Every word in these sentences uses sounds your child has already learned, so they can be read by decoding rather than guessing.
- The hen has ten pens.
- Ben and the men sat in the den.
- When will the hen use the pen?
- Then the wren flew to the den.
How to Teach -en Word Family Words
The -en family gives children a short, manageable word list built almost entirely from familiar, concrete nouns — 'hen,' 'pen,' 'ten,' 'den' — which makes it a satisfying family to complete quickly and build momentum. Because the list is short, this is a good time to introduce simple word sorts: give your child a mixed pile of -at, -an, and -en words and have them sort by ending sound, which builds the auditory discrimination skill of hearing rimes apart.
'Then' and 'when' both include the digraph 'th' or 'wh,' so if your child has not yet learned those digraphs, treat 'then' and 'when' as sight words for now and revisit them once digraphs are covered — trying to sound out 't-h-en' or 'w-h-en' letter by letter will only build a bad decoding habit.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
- Confusing short e and short a in words like 'hen' versus 'han'
- Sounding out 'th' or 'wh' as two separate letters in 'then' and 'when'
- Mixing up 'pen' and 'ten' due to similar shapes