100 Hard C words list with 24 free pictures

Hard C words

This post contains some useful resources based on hard C sound words. They are useful for teaching pronunciation, vocabulary building, and creating your own resources. Hard C words are pronounced with a K sound. The other C sound is pronounced like an S and is called the soft C.

The general rule is that if the letter C is followed by an I, E, or Y, the soft C is used. In all other cases, we use the hard sound. There are however some exceptions, let’s have a quick look at these now.

If C is followed by H then you can have a tch sound /ʧ/, which is a ch as in cheese. You can have a sh sound /ʃ/, such as in words like chef and parachute. And of course, we can also have a hard c as you’ll notice in the words school, anchor, orchid, and chemist!

Finally, if a word features a double c (CC) then the first C is hard and the second is either soft or hard depending on the letter that follows it. English is such an interesting language!

To keep things simple, all the words we are focusing on here start with C and are followed by the vowels A, O, and U.

Hard C words list

Thousands and thousands of words use the hard C in the English language. It doesn’t make sense to list the entire dictionary here, so only some basic lists with short common words have been provided.

The list of words with the hard C sound below is somewhat larger than the free PDF at the top of the page. Some might find it more useful especially if you are looking to cut and paste a certain selection of words.

It has been arranged in alphabetical order going down the columns then left to right.

cab

cabin

cabinet

cactus

cafe

cage

cake

calf

call

calm

cam

came

camel

camera

camp

can

canal

canary

candle

cane

canoe

canon

canopy

canteen

canvas

canyon

cap

cape

capital

captain

car

caramel

card

care

cargo

carol

carp

carpet

carrot

carry

cart

cartoon

carve

case

cash

cashew

cast

castle

casual

cat

catch

cater

cattle

cave

coach

coal

coarse

coast

coat

cob

cobra

cobweb

cocoa

coconut

cocoon

cod

code

coffee

coil

coin

cola

cold

collar

colony

color

colt

comb

combat

comet

comic

common

computer

cone

convey

cook

cool

cop

cope

copper

copy

coral

core

cork

corn

corner

cost

costly

costume

cot

cotton

couch

cough

count

country

coupon

court

cove

cow

cowboy

coyote

cub

cube

cuckoo

cucumber

cud

cuddle

cudgel

cue

cuff

cuisine

cull

cumin

cup

cupboard

cupcake

curb

curd

cure

curl

curry

curt

curtain

curve

cushion

cusp

cut

cute

cutlery

Hard C words with pictures

These printable picture and word cards are perfect for playing learning games. The beautiful visuals help keep students both focused and interested.

They were originally designed to be used together with the soft C words with pictures as a sorting activity. Although, there are plenty of other ways that you can use them.

Other activities include memory games, arranging in ways such as alphabetical order, picture and word matching, and sentence building prompts. I am sure you have a few great ideas of your own!