Presentation - Printable version
The English alphabet has 26 letters. Like people, each letter has a name and a job (role) and it is important to learn how to say both the name of the letter and its role or job.
Here the name will be written as the capital letter (the big letter) and its role will be written as the small letter.
Name |
Sound |
Role |
Sound |
A |
ay |
a |
ah |
B |
bee |
b |
buh |
C |
see |
c |
cuh |
D |
dee |
d |
duh |
E |
ee |
e |
eh |
F |
ef |
f |
fuh |
G |
jee |
g |
guh |
H |
aych |
h |
huh |
I |
ai |
i |
i |
J |
jay |
j |
juh |
K |
kay |
l |
luh |
L |
el |
k |
kuh |
M |
em |
m |
muh |
N |
en |
n |
nuh |
O |
oh |
o |
o |
P |
pee |
p |
puh |
Q |
kyoo |
q |
kwuh |
R |
ar |
r |
ruh |
S |
es |
s |
suh |
T |
tee |
t |
tuh |
U |
yoo |
u |
uh |
V |
vee |
v |
vuh |
W |
dubble yoo |
w |
wuh |
X |
ecs |
x |
ks |
Y |
wai |
y |
yuh |
Z |
zed |
z |
zuh |
Many people have problems with spelling because they only learn the names of the letters. It is much more important to learn the role of the letters because that is how we read and write in English. Let’s look at an example:
H + A + T spells hat but we don’t say aych + ay + tee as a word.
We say h + a + t that’s huh + ah + tuh = hat
Let’s look at some more examples:
B + A + T spells bat but we don’t say bee + ay + tee as a word.
We say b + a + t that’s buh + ah + tuh = bat
P + I + N spells pin but we don’t say pee + ai + en as a word.
We say p + i + n that’s puh + i + nuh = pin
P + A + N spells pan but we don’t say pee + ay + en as a word.
We say p + a + n that’s puh + ah + nuh = pan
R + I + P spells rip but we don’t say ar + ai + pee as a word.
We say r + i + p that’s ruh + i + puh = rip
T + E + L + E + V + I + S + I + O + N spells television but we don’t say
tee + ee + el + ee + vee + ai + es + ai + oh + en as a word.
We say t + e + l + e + v + i + s + i + o + n
that’s tuh + eh + luh + eh + vuh + i + suh + i + o + nuh = television
English has 5 vowels - a e i o u - Try saying these and see how your mouth is open when you say them. A vowel is an open mouth sound and sometimes we say these sounds in different ways, there are twelve ‘pure’ vowel sounds (one sound) and eight ‘blended’ vowel sounds (mixed sounds) but don’t worry about that yet!
The other 21 letters in the alphabet b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z are called consonants and these can be seen as closed mouth sounds. The letter y can sometimes be used like a vowel, like in the word ‘why’. Sometimes consonants can be blended (mixed) too.
When ‘c’ comes before ‘e’ ‘i’ or ‘y’ we say it as suh. Cent medicine cymbal
When ‘g’ comes before ‘e’ ‘i’ or ‘y’ we say it as juh. General imagine gym