The English language has millions of words. Each word is made of letters in the alphabet. The alphabet has 26 letters. Each letter has its own sound.
The alphabet is divided into two parts:
- vowels and
- consonants.
Let’s see what vowels, consonants, letters, and their sounds are.
What are vowels?
Vowels are sounds we make without blocking airflow through the mouth. When we make a vowel sound, our mouth is open, and the tongue doesn’t touch the teeth or palate. Vowels are an essential part of the English alphabet. Every word has at least one vowel to sound better.
The English alphabet has five vowels. Those are a, e, i, o, and u. Sometimes, y acts as a vowel in a word, for example, happy.
What Are Consonants?
Consonants are the sounds we make with letters other than vowels. A consonant is a sound we make by blocking air from flowing out of the mouth with the palate, teeth, lips, or tongue.
The English alphabet has 21 consonants.
Those are b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z.
Sometimes, consonants may be alone or in a cluster to make a word, but they are connected with a vowel. For example: Bob, English, etc
- The letter ‘y’ can act as both a vowel and a consonant.
Listen to the audio of vowels and consonants.
Click the audio button to listen.
In the letters of the alphabet,
- A, E, I, O, and U are called vowels. and
- B, C, D, F, G, H
J, K, L, M, N, P,
Q, R, S, T, V, W
X, Y, and Z are called consonants.
- Sometimes, ‘y’ is used as a vowel.
Let’s see vowels and consonants in tabular form.
| Alphabet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vowels | a | e | i | o | u | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Consonants | b | c | d | f | g | h | j | k | l | m | n | p | q | r | s | t | v | w | x | y | z |
Next: Persons
Related Lessons
All Lessons of Listening Grammar
