26 Letters Pronunciation

Among the 26 English letters, 5 are vowels — A, E, I, O, and U — while the remaining 21 are consonants. R, W, and Y sometimes combine with vowels to function together, and are therefore called “semi-vowels”.

This section revisits the pronunciation of words in the order of the 26 letters, showing how words are “sounded out” from letters.

A a

• Open sound [ā]: e.g. nāme.
• Open combinations [āi], [āy]: e.g. rāin, wāy.
• Other combinations [ãu], [ãw]: e.g. sãuse, lãw.
• Closed sound [a]: e.g. bad.
• [à] sound: clàss, glàss.
• [àr] sound: e.g. càr.
• Short weak [å]: e.g. åbòut.
• Light [ȧ]: e.g. imȧge.

B b

• Same as Chinese pinyin [b].

C c

• Before a, o, u and at word end, pronounced [k].
• Before e, i, y, pronounced [s].
• ch, tch combinations pronounced [ch], e.g. chip, catch.
• ch rarely pronounced [sh], e.g. machine, chicago.

D d

• Same as Chinese pinyin [d].
• dg combination pronounced [j], e.g. judge.

E e

• Open sound [ē]: e.g. mē.
• Vowel combinations [ēe], [ēa], [iē], [ēi], [ēy].
• Closed sound [e]: e.g. bed.
• Long weak [e̊r]: e.g. berg.
• Short weak [e̊]: [ǝ] sound.
• Light [ė]: e.g. begin.
• Silent: word-final e is usually silent.

F f

• Same as Chinese pinyin [f].

G g

• Before a, o, u and at word end, pronounced [g].
• Before e, i, y, pronounced [j]; a few high-frequency words are exceptions, still [g]: get, girl, tiger, begin, finger, forget, give.
• gh combination:
  • Usually silent, e.g. light.
  • Rare exceptions pronounced [f], e.g. laugh, tough.
• In ng combination, pronounced /ŋ/, e.g. king.

H h

• Same as Chinese pinyin [h].
• In some words, h is silent, e.g. what, hour.

I i

• Open sound [ī]: e.g. nice.
• Closed sound [i]: e.g. sit.
• Long weak [i̊r]: e.g. bird.
• Short weak [i̊]:
• Light [i]: e.g. lily.
• Long sound [ĩ]: e.g. police.

J j

• Same as Chinese pinyin [j].

K k

• Same as Chinese pinyin [k].
• In words starting with kn, k is silent, e.g. knife.

L l

• Same as Chinese pinyin [l].

M m

• Same as Chinese pinyin [m].

N n

• Same as Chinese pinyin [n].

O o

• Open sound: e.g. go.
• Open combinations: [oa], [ow].
• Closed sound: e.g. hot.
• Long weak: replaced, pronounced /or/, e.g. force.
• Short weak: /ǝ/ sound.
• Vowel combinations: [ou], [ow], e.g. loud, cow.
• Vowel combinations: [oi], [oy], e.g. oil, boy.

P p

• Same as Chinese pinyin [p].
• ph combination pronounced [f], e.g. photo.

Q q

• qu combination often at word start, pronounced /kw/.

R r

• Same as Chinese pinyin r.
• Open + R: a, e, i, o, u combine as ar, er, ir, or, ur.
• Closed + R:
• Weak + R:

S s

• Same as Chinese pinyin s.
• Pronounced [z].
• sh combination pronounced [sh].
• As a suffix, e.g. -sion, -sure, pronunciation is fixed; memorize.

T t

• Same as Chinese pinyin t.
• th combination:
  • Mostly pronounced [th], e.g. thing.
  • In prepositions, articles, pronouns, conjunctions, pronounced [ṫh], e.g. the, they.
• As a suffix, e.g. -tion, -ture, pronunciation is fixed; memorize.

U u

• Open sound: pronounced /yu:/, e.g. duty; after L, R pronounced /u:/, e.g. blue, ruler.
• Combinations: oo, ui, eu, ew.
• Closed sound: e.g. but.
• Long weak: e.g. burn.
• Short weak: [ǝ] sound.
• Light: rare, e.g. busy.

V v

• Pronounced [v], e.g. very.

W w

• As a consonant, same as Chinese pinyin w.
• As a vowel, equivalent to letter u.
• Combinations: aw, ew, ow.

X x

• Before a consonant, pronounced [ks].
• Before a vowel, pronounced [gz].
• At word start, pronounced [z].

Y y

• As a consonant, pronounced [y], e.g. yes.
• As a vowel, equivalent to letter i.

Z z

• Same as Chinese pinyin z.