The Alphabet & Phonics
26 letters, 5 vowels, and the sounds that build every word.
26 letters, endless words
The English alphabet has 26 letters, from A to Z. Every letter can be written two ways: a big uppercase letter (like A) and a small lowercase letter (like a). Put letters together in different orders and you can make thousands of different words!
Vowels and consonants
Letters come in two types. The vowels are A, E, I, O, and U, and almost every single word has at least one of them inside it. Every other letter is a consonant. Vowels and consonants work together, like C-A-T, to build words.
Letter sounds
Each letter usually makes its own sound, like the "sss" sound of S or the "mmm" sound of M. Phonics is the skill of blending those sounds together smoothly, like blending "c," "a," and "t" into the word "cat." The more sounds you know, the more words you can read on your own.
Quick quiz: The Alphabet & Phonics
Question 1 of 5