English Alphabet
The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. Each letter has an uppercase ("capital letter") and a lowercase ("small letter") form.
# |
Capital
Letter |
Small
Letter |
Phonic
(pronunciation) |
Name |
1 |
A |
a |
/eɪ/, /æ/ |
a |
2 |
B |
b |
/biː/ |
bee |
3 |
C |
c |
/siː/ |
cee |
4 |
D |
d |
/diː/ |
dee |
5 |
E |
e |
/iː/ |
e |
6 |
F |
f |
/ɛf/ |
ef |
7 |
G |
g |
/dʒiː/ |
gee |
8 |
H |
h |
/(h)eɪtʃ/ |
(h)aitch |
9 |
I |
i |
/aɪ/ |
i |
10 |
J |
j |
/dʒeɪ/ |
jay |
11 |
K |
k |
/keɪ/ |
kay |
12 |
L |
l |
/ɛl/ |
el |
13 |
M |
m |
/ɛm/ |
em |
14 |
N |
n |
/ɛn/ |
en |
15 |
O |
o |
/oʊ/ |
o |
16 |
P |
p |
/piː/ |
pee |
17 |
Q |
q |
/kjuː/ |
cue |
18 |
R |
r |
/ɑːr/ |
ar |
19 |
S |
s |
/ɛs/ |
ess |
20 |
T |
t |
/tiː/ |
tee |
21 |
U |
u |
/juː/ |
u |
22 |
V |
v |
/viː/ |
vee |
23 |
W |
w |
/ˈdʌbəl.juː/ |
double-u |
24 |
X |
x |
/ɛks/ |
ex |
25 |
Y |
y |
/waɪ/ |
wy |
26 |
Z |
z |
/zi/zɛd/ |
zee/zed |
Notes
- Five of the letters in the English Alphabet are vowels: A, E, I, O, U.
- The remaining 21 letters are consonants: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Z, and usually W and Y.
Written English includes the digraphs: ch ci ck gh ng ph qu rh sc sh th ti wh wr zh. These are not considered separate letters of the alphabet.
- Two letters, “A” and “I,” also constitute words.
- Until fairly recently (until 1835), the 27th letter of the alphabet (right after "z") was the ampersand (&).
- The English Alphabet is based on the Latin script, which is the basic set of letters common to the various alphabets originating from the classical Latin alphabet.
Old English
- The Old English alphabet letters were 29: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z & ⁊ Ƿ Þ Ð Æ
- The Old English alphabet was recorded in the year 1011 by a monk named Byrhtferð and included the 24 letters of the Latin alphabet (including ampersand) and 5 additional English letters: Long S (ſ), Eth (Ð and ð), Thorn (þ), Wynn (ƿ) and Ash (ᚫ; later Æ and æ).
- With respect to Modern English, Old English did not include J, U, and W.
See Also: