Awesome Alliteration: When Sounds Repeat!

Say this out loud as fast as you can: 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.' What do you notice? Something funny is happening with the sounds at the start of the words. Can you hear it? Today you are going to find out exactly what that sound trick is called — and learn how to use it yourself.

Alliteration happens when two or more words in a row start with the same sound. Writers use it to make their words fun to say and easy to remember. Here is a simple example: 'big brown bear.' Say it aloud. Notice that 'big', 'brown', and 'bear' all begin with the 'b' sound. That is alliteration! The important thing to remember is that it is the SOUND that matters, not just the letter. Look at this phrase: 'clever kites.' The words start with different letters — c and k — but they make the same 'k' sound. That IS alliteration. Now look at 'cheerful cats.' The c in 'cheerful' makes a 'ch' sound, and 'cats' makes a 'k' sound — those are different sounds, so that is NOT alliteration. Poets and authors love alliteration because it makes writing feel lively and musical. You will spot it in book titles, advertisements, and tongue twisters all the time.