English alphabet

The modern English alphabet is a Latin alphabet of 26 letters (each having an uppercase and a lowercase form), of which 5^[1] are vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and 21 are consonants – exactly the same letters that are found in the ISO basic Latin alphabet:

The exact shape of printed letters changes depending on the typeface (and font). The shape of handwritten letters can be very different from the standard printed form (and between individuals), especially when written in cursive style. See the individual letter articles for information about letter shapes and origins (follow the links on any of the uppercase letters above).

Written English uses 18^[2] digraphs (strings of two letters to represent just one sound), such as ch, sh, th, ph, wh, etc., but they are not considered separate letters of the alphabet. Some traditions also call two ligatures, æ and œ, and the ampersand (&) part of the alphabet.

English alphabet

(Listen to a Received Pronunciation British English speaker recite the English alphabet)

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1. ↑ "Twinkl". April 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
2. ↑ "Digraphs (Phonics on the Web)". www.phonicsontheweb.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-04-07.