Hello lovely students! The alphabet is a set of letters found in most languages around the world. In English, the alphabet has 26 characters, all of which have their own pronunciation. Are you ready to find out how we say these English letters?
What is the English alphabet?
The word alphabet comes from the first two Greek letters alpha and beta. The alphabet came from Latin script and was first used to write Old English around 7 AD. Since then, various letters have been replaced or removed, and we are now left with five vowels (a,e, i,o,u) and 21 consonants which make the modern English alphabet.
All the letters in this alphabet have an upper case and a lower case form. It must be noted that these forms do not change the pronunciation; for example, an uppercase A will have the same sound as a lowercase a.
What is the difference between pronouncing vowels and consonants?
When saying consonants, your teeth, tongue or lips limit or interrupt the airflow. In contrast, when saying vowel sounds, the air flows freely in your mouth.
Let’s take a look at how we say all consonants and vowels to help you master the alphabet and see if you can tell the difference.
How do we say the alphabet?
Listen to the alphabet below.
Take a look at the table too for the upper and lowercase letters and the phonetic transcription of the alphabet.
| Letter | Pronunciation |
| Aa | eɪ |
| Bb | bi |
| Cc | si |
| Dd | di |
| Ee | i |
| Ff | ef |
| Gg | dʒi |
| Ii | ai |
| Jj | dʒei |
| Kk | kei |
| Ll | el |
| Mm | em |
| Nn | en |
| Oo | oʊ |
| Pp | pi |
| kju | |
| Rr | ɑr |
| Ss | es |
| Tt | ti |
| Uu | ju |
| Vv | vi |
| Ww | dʌblju |
| Xx | ɛks |
| Yy | wai |
| Zz | zi/zed |
Have you spotted the letter z? There are two ways to pronounce it depending on your accent: zi and zed. The American English pronunciation of the letter is zi whereas the British English pronunciation is zed. This causes some confusion amongst native speakers, but not too much.
The alphabet song is a really good way to get this in your mind.
Is that all?
Of course not! There are two other alphabets in the English language that you have to be aware of. These are the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet. Both of them are very important in the English language in both British and American English.
NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Though not a traditional alphabet, the NATO Phonetic Alphabet comes in useful when spelling a foreign name, or if you’re on the phone and you cannot hear an address well. It is used the most over the radio and the telephone.
It uses words rather than singular sounds to represent each letter from the alphabet for a clearer understanding.
Here is the table that shows how each letter is represented.
| a | alpha |
| b | bravo |
| c | Charlie |
| d | delta |
| e | echo |
| f | foxtrot |
| g | golf |
| h | hotel |
| i | India |
| j | Juliet |
| k | kilo |
| l | Lima |
| m | Mike |
| n | November |
| o | Oscar |
| p | papa |
| q | Quebec |
| r | Romeo |
| s | Sierra |
| t | tango |
| u | uniform |
| v | Victor |
| w | whiskey |
| x | x-ray |
| y | Yankee |
| z | Zulu |
International Phonetic Alphabet
This alphabet is based on how letters sound in certain words rather than how they’re individually spoken.
For more information look at our article on the International Phonetic Alphabet here
Is that everything?
Not at all! I hope you have found this an interesting read. If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below. For more engaging English content, head to my YouTube channel English with Lucy.