the alphabet

English has 26 letters: five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 21 consonants. Each letter has a name. To spell a word aloud, you say the names one by one.

The names of the letters

Many letter names rhyme, so it helps to learn them in groups. The sound of each name is written here in simple spelling.

• A, H, J, K – the "ay" group: ay, aitch, jay, kay
• B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V – the "ee" group: bee, see, dee, ee, jee, pee, tee, vee
• F, L, M, N, S, X, Z – the "e" group: ef, el, em, en, es, eks, zed
• I, Y – the "eye" group: eye, why
• Q, U, W – the "yoo" group: kyoo, yoo, double-yoo
• O – oh
• R – ar

In American English, Z is "zee".

Letters that are easy to mix up

G is "jee" and J is "jay". E is "ee" and I is "eye". A is "ay" and R is "ar". When a name has one of these letters, people often check it with a word.

Double letters

For two of the same letter together, you can say "double". Saying the letter twice is fine too.

Capital letters

A capital letter is the big form of a letter: A, B, C. Use one at the start of a sentence, for the word I, and for names of people, places, days, months and languages.

Seasons don't take a capital letter: spring, summer, autumn, winter.

Common mistakes

• × i am from Osaka. → I am from Osaka.
• × on monday → on Monday
• × in june → in June
• × in Summer → in summer