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
1Aa/eɪ/, /æ/a
2Bb/biː/bee
3Cc/siː/cee
4Dd/diː/dee
5Ee/iː/e
6Ff/ɛf/ef
7Gg/dʒiː/gee
8Hh/(h)eɪtʃ/(h)aitch
9Ii/aɪ/i
10Jj/dʒeɪ/jay
11Kk/keɪ/kay
12Ll/ɛl/el
13Mm/ɛm/em
14Nn/ɛn/en
15Oo/oʊ/o
16Pp/piː/pee
17Qq/kjuː/cue
18Rr/ɑːr/ar
19Ss/ɛs/ess
20Tt/tiː/tee
21Uu/juː/u
22Vv/viː/vee
23Ww/ˈdʌbəl.juː/double-u
24Xx/ɛks/ex
25Yy/waɪ/wy
26Zz/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: