The English alphabet consists of 26 letters.

The letters are A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

Each letter in the alphabet has an uppercase (capital letter) and a lowercase (small letter) form. For example, upper case A and lower case a.  

Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz.

Each letter has a phonetic sound. Here are the list of phonetic sounds:

• A ➜ /eɪ/
• B ➜ /biː/
• C ➜ /siː/
• D ➜/diː/
• E ➜ /iː/
• F ➜ /ef/
• G ➜ /dʒiː/
• H ➜ /eɪtʃ/
• I ➜ /aɪ/
• J ➜ /dʒeɪ/
• K ➜ /keɪ/
• L ➜ /el/
• M ➜ /em/
• N ➜ /en/
• O ➜ /ƏƱ/
• P ➜ /piː/
• Q ➜ /kjuː/
• R ➜ /ɑː/
• S ➜ /es/
• T ➜ /tiː/
• U ➜ /juː/
• V ➜ /viː/
• W ➜ /ˈdʌb.əl.juː/
• X ➜ /eks/
• Y ➜ /waɪ/
• Z ➜ /zed/

Alphabetical order means to arrange words based on the position of the letters in the alphabet.

Let’s work through two examples.

We can put the words dog, cat, and fish in the correct alphabetical order by looking at the first letter in each word. The letter C comes before both D and F, therefore it will be first. The letter D comes after C and before F in the alphabet, therefore the correct arrangement is cat, dog, fish. 

If the first letters are the same e.g. duck and dog, then we look at the position of the second letter in the alphabet. The letter O comes before the letter U in the alphabet therefore the correct order is dog and duck.

If the first and second letters are the same e.g. cute and cup, then we look at the position of the third letter in the alphabet. The letter P comes before the letter R in the alphabet therefore the correct order is cup and cute.

The letters A E I O U are known as the vowels. These are speech sounds made when air flows out of the mouth without being blocked by parts of the mouth or throat.

The rest of the letters in the alphabet are known as consonants. These are speech sounds in which airflow is partially obstructed by parts of the mouth including the lips or tongue.

It is important to remember that the letter Y is special because it can sometimes be a vowel or a consonant.

Vowels

The letters A E I O U are known as the vowels. These are speech sounds made without any blockage of airflow by parts of the mouth. 

Each vowel has a long and a short sound.

• Long A, Short A
• Long E. Short E
• Long I, Short I
• Long O, Short O
• Long U, Short U

Every word has at least one vowel. 

The word cat consists of the consonant c, short vowel a, and the consonant t.

The word bed consists of the consonant b, short vowel e, and the consonant d. 

It is important to remember that the letter Y is special because it can sometimes be a vowel or a consonant. It can be a vowel or consonant depending on how it sounds in the word.

➜ E.g. In the word sky, the letter y makes a long vowel i sound, therefore in this case, the letter y is considered to be a vowel.

➜ E.g. In the word angry, the letter y makes a long vowel e sound therefore in this case, the letter y is considered to be a vowel. 

In cases where the letter y makes its phonics sound, it is considered to be a consonant. This usually comes at the beginning of words, e.g. yellow, yacht, you, etc. 

Syllables

Vowels are important as they make up a syllable. Words are made up of different parts called ‘syllables’. Syllables are the different sounds used to make a word.

A E I O U (sometimes Y) are vowels. Every syllable has a vowel; therefore, we can count how many syllables there are in a word by identifying the number of pronounced vowels.

The different syllable sounds in a word can help us to read the word correctly.

Consonants

The rest of the letters in the alphabet are known as consonants. These are speech sounds in which airflow is partially obstructed by parts of the mouth including the lips or tongue.

The consonants are: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z