The 44 sounds in English with examples
Do you want to learn more about American English sounds? You’ve come to the right place. In this guide,
we discuss everything you need to know, starting with the basics.
Contents

Definition of Phonemes

English Keywords

Phonics: The way sounds are spelled

English Consonant letters and their sounds

Bringing it all together
Definition of Phonemes
"Phon-emes" are the smallest units of speech sound that can convey a unique meaning, they
consist of consonants, long and short vowels, digraphs and other sounds. Each language has
its own unique set. In English there are 44 sounds. Spanish has just 24, French 34, German
46, and Italian 49.
Keywords
The vowel chart shows the keyword, or quick reference word, for each English vowel sound.
Keywords are used because vowel sounds are easier to hear within a word than when they are
spoken in isolation. Memorizing keywords allows easier comparison between different vowel
sounds.
Phonics: The way sounds are spelled
Phonics is the link between the spelling of a word and its pronunciation. Since English has
more sounds than letters, a combination of letters is often necessary to represent a single
sound.
Phonemic awareness is the best predictor of future reading ability Word origins. The English
word dates back to the late 19th century and was borrowed from two many sources. The 44
English sounds fall into two categories: consonants and vowels.
Below is a list of english phonemes and their International Phonetic Alphabet symbols and
some examples of their use. Note that there is no such thing as a definitive list of phonemes
because of accents, dialects, and the evolution of language itself. Therefore you may discover
lists with more or less than these 44 sounds.
English Consonant letters and their sounds
A consonant letter usually represents one consonant sound. Some consonant letters, for
example, c, g, s, can represent two different consonant sounds.
Phoneme
IPA
Symbol
Graphemes
Examples
Voiced?
1
b
d
f
g
h
dʒ
b, bb
d, dd, ed
f, ff, ph, gh, lf, ft
g, gg, gh,gu,gue
h, wh
j, ge, g, dge, di, gg
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
7
k
8
l
m
k, c, ch, cc, lk, qu
,q(u), ck, x
l, ll
m, mm, mb, mn,
lm
n, nn,kn, gn, pn,
mn
p, pp
r, rr, wr, rh
s, ss, c, sc, ps, st,
ce, se
t, tt, th, ed
v, f, ph, ve
w, wh, u, o
z, zz, s, ss, x, ze,
se
s, si, z
ch, tch, tu, ti, te
sh, ce, s, ci, si, ch,
sci, ti
th
th
ng, n, ngue
y, i, j
bug, bubble
dad, add, milled
fat, cliff, phone, enough, half, often
gun, egg, ghost, guest, prologue
hop, who
jam, wage, giraffe, edge, soldier,
exaggerate
kit, cat, chris, accent, folk, bouquet,
queen, rack, box
live, well
man, summer, comb, column, palm
net, funny, know, gnat, pneumonic,
mneumonic
pin, dippy
run, carrot, wrench, rhyme
sit, less, circle, scene, psycho, listen,
pace, course
tip, matter, thomas, ripped
vine, of, stephen, five
wit, why, quick, choir
zed, buzz, his, scissors, xylophone,
craze
treasure, division, azure
chip, watch, future, action, righteous
sham, ocean, sure, special, pension,
machine, conscience, station
thongs
leather
ring, pink, tongue
you, onion, hallelujah
Yes
2
3
4
5
6
9
10
n
11
p
r
s
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
t
v
w
z
ʒ
tʃ
ʃ
θ
ð
ŋ
j
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
English vowel letters and their sounds
A vowel is a particular kind of speech sound made by changing the shape of the upper vocal
tract, or the area in the mouth above the tongue. In English it is important to know that there is
a difference between a vowel sound and a [letter] in the [alphabet]. In English there are five
vowel letters in the alphabet.
Phoneme
IPA
Symbol
Graphemes
Examples
25
æ
eɪ
a, ai, au
a, ai, eigh, aigh, ay, er,
et, ei, au, a_e, ea, ey
e, ea, u, ie, ai, a, eo, ei,
ae
e, ee, ea, y, ey, oe, ie,
i, ei, eo, ay
i, e, o, u, ui, y, ie
cat, plaid, laugh
bay, maid, weigh, straight, pay, foyer,
filet, eight, gauge, mate, break, they
end, bread, bury, friend, said, many,
leopard, heifer, aesthetic
be, bee, meat, lady, key, phoenix,
grief, ski, deceive, people, quay
it, england, women, busy, guild, gym,
sieve
spider, sky, night, pie, guy, stye, aisle,
island, height, kite
swan, honest, maul, slaw, fought
open, moat, bone, toe, sow, dough,
beau, brooch, sew
wolf, look, bush, would
lug, monkey, blood, double
who, loon, dew, blue, flute, shoe,
through, fruit, manoeuvre, group
join, boy, buoy
now, shout, bough
about, ladder, pencil, dollar, honour,
augur
chair, dare, pear, where, their, prayer
26
27
e
28
i:
29
ɪ
30
aɪ
31
ɒ
oʊ
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
ʊ
ʌ
u:
ɔɪ
aʊ
ə
39
eəʳ
40
ɑ:
ɜ:ʳ
41
42
ɔ:
43
ɪəʳ
ʊəʳ
44
i, y, igh, ie, uy, ye, ai,
is, eigh, i_e
a, ho, au, aw, ough
o, oa, o_e, oe, ow,
ough, eau, oo, ew
o, oo, u,ou
u, o, oo, ou
o, oo, ew, ue, u_e, oe,
ough, ui, oew, ou
oi, oy, uoy
ow, ou, ough
a, er, i, ar, our, ur
air, are, ear, ere, eir,
ayer
a
ir, er, ur, ear, or, our, yr
aw, a, or, oor, ore, oar,
our, augh, ar, ough, au
ear, eer, ere, ier
ure, our
arm
bird, term, burn, pearl, word, journey,
myrtle
paw, ball, fork, poor, fore, board, four,
taught, war, bought, sauce
ear, steer, here, tier
cure, tourist