The English language uses the Latin alphabet, which has 26 letters. Each letter has an uppercase (capital) and a lowercase form. You'll use uppercase letters for the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns, like names of people and places.

The letters are divided into two main groups: vowels and consonants.

This distinction is important because vowels and consonants combine to form syllables, the building blocks of words. Every syllable in English must have at least one vowel sound.

Every letter has a name and at least one sound. For example, the name of the letter 'A' is pronounced /eɪ/ (like in "eight"), but its most common sound is /æ/ (as in "apple"). Knowing the difference is key to learning how to read and speak English correctly.

Many letters, especially vowels, can make more than one sound. A vowel's sound often depends on the other letters around it. We generally talk about "short" and "long" vowel sounds.

Consonants are usually more consistent, but some can also change their sound. The letter 'C', for instance, makes a hard /k/ sound before A, O, or U (as in cat, cot, cut) and a soft /s/ sound before E, I, or Y (as in cent, city, cycle).

Sometimes, two letters team up to create a completely new sound. These pairs are called digraphs. Learning to spot them will make pronouncing new words much easier.

The 'th' sound is a good example of sounds that can be tricky. One is unvoiced (like in think), where you just push air through your teeth. The other is voiced (like in this), where you make a sound with your vocal cords.

Because of all these variations, how can you know for sure how to pronounce a word? Dictionaries use a special set of symbols to represent sounds, called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Each symbol stands for one specific sound. Learning a few common IPA symbols can help you pronounce any English word correctly.

For example, even though the words through, though, and tough all contain "ough," their pronunciations are very different. The IPA makes this clear:

• through /θruː/
• though /ðoʊ/
• tough /tʌf/

You don't need to memorize the whole chart, but recognizing IPA symbols in a dictionary can be a powerful tool.

Let's review the main ideas before you test your knowledge.

Ready to check what you've learned?

Understanding the alphabet and the sounds its letters make is the first major step in mastering English.