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Names of Letters and Numbers

Consonant Sounds

Vowel Sounds

Voiced and Unvoiced Sounds

HOW ARE "SOUNDS" DIFFERENT FROM "LETTERS"?

Every letter of the English alphabet has a name. For example, the letter “f” is pronounced /ef/ when we say the name of the letter. If you spelled the word fan, you would say /ef/-/ei/-/en/ (f-a-n). On the other hand, when we talk about pronouncing the sounds of a letter, we are not talking about the spelling, but how we pronounce the letter when it’s in a word. When we pronounce the sound “f” we say /f/ rather than /ef/.

There are nearly twice as many sounds in English than letters. This is because some letters have multiple sounds. For example, the sound of the letter “a” is different in these words: cap, fate, and pasta. The sound of the letters “th” are different in these words: bath and bathe.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THESE SOUNDS?

The way you pronounce individual sounds is not the most important pronunciation skill. If you mispronounce a sound, your listener may still be able to guess what word you are saying based on the context or situation. However, it is a good idea to improve your sounds so that your listener does not have to work as hard to understand you. This is especially important in words that are similar except for one sound (star/store, light/right, fan/pan, for example).