English Alphabet

The English alphabet consists of 26 letters, starting with A and ending with Z. It is based on the Latin script and is used globally.

But there are more than 40 vowel and consonant sounds in English.

In some words, the number of letters is the same as the number of sounds.

best – 4 letters, 4 sounds
b e s t
1 2 3 4

lamp – 4 letters, 4 sounds
l a m p
1 2 3 4

In some words, the number of sounds is different from the number of letters.

In green, ee is one sound, in happy, pp is one sound, and in bread, ea is one sound.

green – 5 letters, 4 sounds
g r ee n
1 2 3 4

green → 5 letters, 4 sounds (ee = /iː/)
happy → 5 letters, 4 sounds (pp = /p/)
bread → 5 letters, 4 sounds (ea = /ɛ/)
school → 6 letters, 4 sounds (sch = /sk/)

In some words there are silent letters (letters with no sound). In listen, t is silent.

listen – 6 letters, 5 sounds
l i s t e n
1 2 3 4 5

listen → 6 letters, 5 sounds (t is silent)
knight → 6 letters, 3 sounds (k, gh are silent)
island → 6 letters, 5 sounds (s is silent)
honest → 6 letters, 5 sounds (h is silent)

In some words, one letter is two sounds. The x in six is two sounds like k + s.

six – 3 letters, 4 sounds
s i x
1 2 3 4

six → 3 letters, 4 sounds (x = /k/ + /s/)
extra → 5 letters, 6 sounds (x = /k/ + /s/)
exam → 4 letters, 5 sounds

One sound can be spelled in many ways.

Examples of the /iː/ sound:
green, team, people, key, ski

Examples of the /f/ sound:
phone, fun, cough, elephant

Some words are spelled the same but pronounced differently.

Examples:
read (present /riːd/) vs. read (past /rɛd/)
lead (to guide /liːd/) vs. lead (metal /lɛd/)
wind (air /wɪnd/) vs. wind (turn /waɪnd/)

Sometimes two words have the same pronunciation but different spellings. They are called Homophones.

know – no
A: Do you know?
B: No, I don’t.

no / know
to, two, too
flower / flour
knight / night