The 44 English Phonemes

What is a Phoneme?

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can change the meaning of a word. For example, changing the /k/ in "cat" to /b/ gives you "bat" - a completely different word!

English has 44 phonemes - sounds that combine in different ways to create all the words we speak and read. Mastering these 44 sounds is the key to reading fluency.

Vowel Sounds (20 Phonemes)

Vowel sounds are made with an open mouth and continuous airflow. English has 20 vowel phonemes.

Short Vowels (5 sounds)

Phoneme	IPA	Example Words	Spelling Patterns
Short a	/ae/	cat, bat, map, sad	a
Short e	/e/	bed, red, hen, pen	e, ea
Short i	/i/	sit, big, pin, fish	i, y
Short o	/o/	hot, dog, box, stop	o, a
Short u	/u/	cup, bug, sun, run	u, o

Long Vowels (5 sounds)

Phoneme	IPA	Example Words	Spelling Patterns
Long a	/ei/	cake, rain, day, they	a_e, ai, ay, ey
Long e	/i:/	feet, eat, happy, key	ee, ea, y, ey
Long i	/ai/	bike, cry, pie, night	i_e, y, ie, igh
Long o	/ou/	home, boat, slow, toe	o_e, oa, ow, oe
Long u	/ju:/	cute, few, use, you	u_e, ew, ue

Other Vowel Sounds (7 sounds)

Phoneme	IPA	Example Words	Spelling Patterns
oo (short)	/u/	book, look, put, good	oo, u
oo (long)	/u:/	moon, food, blue, true	oo, ue, ew
aw	/o:/	saw, ball, caught, bought	aw, au, al, ough
schwa	/e/	about, taken, pencil	a, e, i, o, u

Diphthongs (3 sounds)

Diphthongs are vowel sounds that glide from one sound to another within the same syllable.

Phoneme	IPA	Example Words	Spelling Patterns
ow/ou	/au/	cow, house, now, loud	ow, ou
oy/oi	/oi/	boy, coin, joy, noise	oy, oi

Consonant Sounds (24 Phonemes)

Consonant sounds are made by partially or fully blocking airflow. English has 24 consonant phonemes.

Single Consonants (18 sounds)

Phoneme	IPA	Example Words	Common Spellings
b	/b/	bat, cab, rubber	b, bb
d	/d/	dog, bed, ladder	d, dd, ed
f	/f/	fan, off, phone, laugh	f, ff, ph, gh
g	/g/	go, bag, bigger	g, gg, gh
h	/h/	hat, who, behind	h, wh
j	/d3/	jam, age, bridge	j, g, dge
k	/k/	cat, king, back, school	c, k, ck, ch
l	/l/	leg, ball, silly	l, ll
m	/m/	man, ham, summer	m, mm
n	/n/	net, sun, funny, know	n, nn, kn, gn
p	/p/	pan, cup, happy	p, pp
r	/r/	run, car, write, carry	r, rr, wr
s	/s/	sun, bus, city, science	s, ss, c, sc
t	/t/	ten, cat, butter	t, tt
v	/v/	van, love, of	v, ve
w	/w/	wet, swim, one	w, wh
y	/j/	yes, you, onion	y
z	/z/	zoo, buzz, is, cheese	z, zz, s, se

Digraphs (6 sounds)

Digraphs are two letters that make one sound.

Phoneme	IPA	Example Words	Spelling Patterns
sh	/sh/	ship, fish, sugar, mission	sh, ti, ci, ssi
ch	/tsh/	chip, catch, nature	ch, tch, tu
th (voiced)	/th/	this, that, mother	th
th (unvoiced)	/th/	think, bath, math	th
ng	/ng/	ring, sing, think	ng, n
zh	/zh/	measure, vision, beige	s, g

R-Controlled Vowels

When a vowel is followed by 'r', the sound changes. These are called r-controlled or "bossy r" vowels.

Pattern	Example Words	Sound Description
ar	car, star, farm	Like "ah" + r
er	her, fern, term	Like "ur" sound
ir	bird, girl, first	Like "ur" sound
or	corn, fork, storm	Like "or" in "more"
ur	burn, turn, nurse	Like "ur" sound

Phoneme Categories at a Glance

Tips for Learning Phonemes