Hard and Soft c and g Sounds - Free Printable

Let’s go through each word one by one and decide if the “g” is hard (like in “goat”) or soft (like in “gem”).

Remember:
- Hard g = /g/ sound → color purple
- Soft g = /j/ sound → color yellow

We’ll look at each word:

1. goat – starts with “g”, sounds like /g/ → hard → purple
2. stage – ends with “ge”, but the “g” here is part of “-age” which makes a soft /j/ sound? Wait — actually, in “stage”, the “g” is followed by “e”, so it’s soft → /j/ → yellow
*(Wait — let’s double-check: “stage” rhymes with “cage” — yes, soft g)*
3. eagle – “g” is followed by “l”, but in “eagle”, the “g” is soft → /j/ → yellow
4. flag – “g” at end, after “a” → hard /g/ → purple
5. gem – “g” followed by “e” → soft /j/ → yellow

6. germ – “g” followed by “e” → soft /j/ → yellow
7. girl – “g” followed by “i” → soft /j/ → yellow
8. goal – “g” followed by “o” → hard /g/ → purple
9. gym – “g” followed by “y” → soft /j/ → yellow
10. fudge – “g” followed by “e” → soft /j/ → yellow

11. game – “g” followed by “a” → hard /g/ → purple
12. frog – “g” at end, after “o” → hard /g/ → purple
13. gate – “g” followed by “a” → hard /g/ → purple
14. angel – “g” followed by “e” → soft /j/ → yellow
15. giraffe – “g” followed by “i” → soft /j/ → yellow

16. orange – “g” followed by “e” → soft /j/ → yellow
17. globe – “g” followed by “l” → hard /g/ → purple
18. giant – “g” followed by “i” → soft /j/ → yellow
19. glue – “g” followed by “l” → hard /g/ → purple
20. pigeon – “g” followed by “e” → soft /j/ → yellow

Now let’s list them clearly with their colors:

Purple (hard g):
- goat
- flag
- goal
- game
- frog
- gate
- globe
- glue

Yellow (soft g):
- stage
- eagle
- gem
- germ
- girl
- gym
- fudge
- angel
- giraffe
- orange
- giant
- pigeon

Wait — let me check “stage” again. Is the “g” really soft? Yes — “stage” = /stāj/, so soft g. Same with “eagle” = /ē-gəl/? Actually, no — wait! In “eagle”, the “g” is between two vowels and often pronounced as /g/ in some accents? But in standard phonics for kids, “eagle” is taught as having a soft g because of the “e” after? Hmm… Let’s think carefully.

Actually, in most elementary phonics rules:
- If “g” is followed by e, i, or y → usually soft (/j/)
- Otherwise → hard (/g/)

So:
- “eagle”: g + l → not e/i/y → should be hard? But wait — “eagle” is spelled e-a-g-l-e. The “g” is followed by “l”, then “e”. So technically, the letter after “g” is “l”, not “e”. So according to rule, it should be hard? But that doesn’t match how we say it.

This is tricky. Let’s use pronunciation:

In “eagle”, we say /ˈē.gəl/ — the “g” is hard! Oh no — I made a mistake earlier.

Let me correct this using actual pronunciation:

Standard pronunciation guide for these words:

- goat → /gōt/ → hard
- stage → /stāj/ → soft (because “ge” at end)
- eagle → /ˈē.gəl/ → HARD g (yes, it’s /g/, not /j/)
- flag → /flag/ → hard
- gem → /jem/ → soft
- germ → /jerm/ → soft
- girl → /jurl/ → soft
- goal → /gōl/ → hard
- gym → /jim/ → soft
- fudge → /fuj/ → soft
- game → /gām/ → hard
- frog → /fräg/ → hard
- gate → /gāt/ → hard
- angel → /ān.jəl/ → soft
- giraffe → /jə.räf/ → soft
- orange → /ôr.ənj/ → soft
- globe → /glōb/ → hard
- giant → /jī.ənt/ → soft
- glue → /glü/ → hard
- pigeon → /pij.ən/ → soft

So correction: “eagle” has a HARD g!

That changes things.

Let’s redo the list accurately based on real pronunciation:

Hard g (purple):
- goat
- eagle ← corrected!
- flag
- goal
- game
- frog
- gate
- globe
- glue

Soft g (yellow):
- stage
- gem
- germ
- girl
- gym
- fudge
- angel
- giraffe
- orange
- giant
- pigeon

Count: 9 hard, 11 soft — total 20 words. Good.

Final Answer:

Purple (hard g): goat, eagle, flag, goal, game, frog, gate, globe, glue
Yellow (soft g): stage, gem, germ, girl, gym, fudge, angel, giraffe, orange, giant, pigeon