Magic-e family · 11 words

Words that rhyme with "drive"

The -ive family follows the classic "magic-e" rule. Every word below ends in vowel-consonant-e, where the silent e at the end pulls the vowel back to say its own name — a long-i (/aɪ/, as in "light") sound. "drive" is the family's anchor word.

How magic-e shapes "drive"

In a CVCe word like "drive", the final e is silent — its only job is to reach back across the consonant and tell the vowel to say its long sound. Cover the e with your finger and you'll get a short-vowel word; uncover it and the vowel goes long. This is one of the first "tricky" patterns young readers meet because the rule depends on a letter that makes no sound of its own. All 11 words in this hub share the same -ive ending and the same long-i (/aɪ/, as in "light") sound.

Try the rhyme aloud

  1. Match it: "drive" rhymes with "arrive" and "dive" — same ending, same sound.
  2. Echo it: Say "drive, arrive, dive" aloud and feel how each ends the same way.
  3. Stretch it: Now add "alive" — four words, one ending, all in the -ive family.

All 11 words ending in -ive

A (2)

arrive 6 letters alive 5 letters

C (2)

contrive 8 letters clive 5 letters

D (4)

drive 5 letters dive 4 letters deprive 7 letters derive 6 letters

F (1)

five 4 letters

L (1)

live 4 letters

S (1)

survive 7 letters

Related rhyme families

Other rhyme families that share sounds or spellings with -ive.

Teaching this rhyme family

  • Read the silent e last: sound out the consonant–vowel–consonant first, then go back and stretch the vowel long.
  • Cover the final e — if the word turns into a short-vowel word you recognise, that confirms it's magic-e.
  • High-frequency exceptions (have, give, live, come) break the rule. Teach those as sight words rather than decode them.