๐ค English letters and their sounds
๐ In short
English is written with twenty-six letters, from left to right, and each letter has a capital and a small form: A a, B b. But English isn't always said the way it's written, so we learn the letters' names and sounds together.
๐ The lesson
1 Letter names and sounds
Each letter has a name we say when spelling, and a sound we hear in words: the letter c is called โseeโ, but in cat it sounds like โkโ.
- A, B, C, D, E, F, GThe first letters of the alphabet
- catCat
- dogDog
- sunSun
2 The five vowels
The vowels are a e i o u, and sometimes y. Each has a short sound, as in cat, bed, pig, dog and bus.
| Letter | Short sound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a | cat | Cat |
| e | bed | Bed |
| i | pig | Pig |
| o | dog | Dog |
| u | bus | Bus |
3 Capital letters
We use a capital letter at the start of a sentence, and for names of people, towns, days and months, and the pronoun I is always a capital.
- My name is Adam.My name is Adam.
- I live in Cairo.I live in Cairo.
4 Silent letters
Some letters are written but not said: the k in knife, the w in write, and the gh in night.
- knifeKnife
- writeWrite
- nightNight
๐ก Watch out!
- When you learn a new word, learn its spelling and how it's said together, and press ๐ to hear it.
- The letters th together are said with your tongue between your teeth: three, this.
๐งฉ Test yourself
1 How is the pronoun โIโ written in English?
2 Which letter is silent in knife?
3 Which of these letters is a vowel?
โ Greetings and introductions in English