Cailey Johanna
Last updated:
The Alphabet in English: Learn It With The Best Tips and Resources
The English alphabet seems simple. But it’s not always that easy!
This post will make the English alphabet less difficult so that you can start to focus on English conversation.
Read on for everything you need to learn the alphabet right now!
Contents
- Letters of the English Alphabet
- How to Remember the Alphabet
- How to Write the Alphabet
- How to Pronounce Each Letter
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Letters of the English Alphabet
Here is the whole alphabet in order and how to name each letter:
| Uppercase letter | Lowercase letter | Name |
|---|---|---|
| A | a | Ay |
| B | b | Bee |
| C | c | Cee |
| D | d | Dee |
| E | e | Ee |
| F | f | Eff |
| G | g | Gee |
| H | h | Ay-tch |
| I | i | Eye |
| J | j | Jay |
| K | k | Kay |
| L | l | Ell |
| M | m | Em |
| N | n | En |
| O | o | Oh |
| P | p | Pee |
| Q | q | Cue |
| R | r | Are |
| S | s | Ess |
| T | t | Tee |
| U | u | You |
| V | v | Vee |
| W | w | Double-you |
| X | x | Ex |
| Y | y | Why |
| Z | z | Zee |
The English alphabet has 26 letters. There are five vowels and twenty-one consonants.
The vowels are: A, E, I, O, and U. The letter Y can also be a vowel sometimes.
The consonants are: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, and Z.
In general, every English word has a vowel in it. They can make long or short sounds.
Listen to “The Vowel Song” to learn about the sounds of English vowels:
Each letter in the alphabet has two forms. The big ones are uppercase letters and the small ones are lowercase letters. Even though they look different sometimes, like B/b, they are the same letter. Use uppercase for the first letter in a sentence and for the first letter in names of people and places.
You will feel more confident using English after you learn the alphabet. The alphabet will also help your English reading skills.
How to Remember the Alphabet
Native English speakers learn a song to remember the alphabet. Here is “The ABC Song”:
Here is another fun song to help you learn the English alphabet:
More ways to remember the English alphabet:
- Make your own alphabet song. Sing the letters to the music of your favorite song. Or, make a song by yourself with the letters of the alphabet.
- Use words to remember the letters. Try to write a story with 26 words. Each word will start with the next letter of the alphabet. The story doesn’t need to make sense!
After breakfast, cats destroyed everything. Fish, games, household items… Jealous kittens love messes!
How to Write the Alphabet
This worksheet will help you learn to write the English alphabet. You can practice uppercase and lowercase letters.
This website has a different worksheet. Each letter has small numbers next to it. The numbers tell you how to write the letter correctly.
How to Pronounce Each Letter
The letters of the English alphabet can have different pronunciations.
They can also sound different if you are learning American English or British English.
This video tells you how to say each letter. The first time is in a British accent and the next time is in an American accent.
The next video tells you the letter and how to pronounce it. It also gives you examples of words that start with each letter.
Try to notice letters that rhyme with other letters. This means that some letters sound like each other.
For example:
- A, J and K all end with the sound “ay”
- B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V and Z all end with the sound “ee”
- Q, U and W all end with the sound “u”
Here are a few more letters that sound similar to each other:
- F, L, M, N, S and X all start with a soft “e” sound
- Y sounds like I, but with a “w” sound at the beginning
You just have to remember H, O and R!
You can also make lists to remember how to pronounce the English alphabet. Write a few words that start with each letter of the alphabet.
Here is an example list:
I: Ice , Illness , Interesting
Now, try to make a list with other words you know. Practice saying each word.
You will start to see the way a letter’s pronunciation changes when it is next to other letters.
For example, C can sound like K, as in cat. Or, C can sound like S, as in cent.
Keep practicing! You will slowly become familiar with how to pronounce each letter of the English alphabet.
Another way to get more familiar with how to pronounce English letters is to use flashcards with words that use the same letter but sound different. Here is an example.
If you want to make your own flashcards with words you choose, try FluentU.
FluentU is a language learning program that helps you learn English with real English-language videos. Every video has subtitles you can click on to see information about a word. You can add any word to a custom flashcard deck. Every flashcard has text, audio, video and an image.
By practicing with words from real English videos, you will learn how to speak like a native.
Learning the alphabet is a very important step for learning English. Great work!
Soon, you will be singing the ABCs like a natural!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
