The 44 Sounds (Phonemes) of English
A phoneme is a speech sound. It’s the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another.
Since sounds cannot be written, we use letters to represent or stand for the sounds. A grapheme is the
written representation (a letter or cluster of letters) of one sound. It is generally agreed that there are
approximately 44 sounds in English, with some variation dependent on accent and articulation. The 44 English
phonemes are represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and in combination.
Phonics instruction involves teaching the relationship between sounds and the letters used to represent them.
There are hundreds of spelling alternatives that can be used to represent the 44 English phonemes. Only the
most common sound / letter relationships need to be taught explicitly.
The 44 English sounds can be divided into two major categories – consonants and vowels. A consonant
sound is one in which the air flow is cut off, either partially or completely, when the sound is produced. In
contrast, a vowel sound is one in which the air flow is unobstructed when the sound is made. The vowel
sounds are the music, or movement, of our language. The 44 phonemes represented below are in line with
the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Consonants
Sound
Common
spelling
Spelling alternatives
/b/ b
ball
bb
ribbon
/d/ d
dog
dd
add
ed
filled
/f/ f
fan
ff
cliff
ph
phone
gh
laugh
lf
calf
ft
often
/g/ g
grapes
gg
egg
gh
ghost
gu
guest
gue
catalogue
/h/ h
hat
wh
who
/j/ j
jellyfish
ge
cage
g
giraffe
dge
edge
di
soldier
gg
exaggerat
e
c
cat
ch
christmas
cc
acclaim
/k/ k
kite
q(u)
queen
ck
back
X
box
lk
folk
qu
bouquet
/l/ l
leaf
ll
spell
/m/ m
monkey
mm
summer
mb
climb
mn
autumn
lm
palm
/n/ n
nest
nn
funny
kn
knight
gn
gnat
pn
pneumonia
/ng/ ng
ring
n
sink
ngue
tongue
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/p/ p
pig
pp
happy
/r/ r
robot
rr
carrot
wr
wrong
rh
rhyme
ss
mess
c
circus
/s/ s
sun
ce
rice
se
horse
sc
science
ps
psychology
st
listen
/t/ t
tap
tt
batter
th
thomas
ed
tapped
/v/ v
van
f
of
ph
stephen
ve
five
/w/ w
web
wh
why
u
quick
o
choir
/y/ y
yo-yo
i
opinion
j
hallelujah
zz
buzz
/z/ z
zebra
se
cheese
s
has
ss
scissors
x
xylophone
ze
maze
Digraphs
Sound Common
spelling
Spelling alternatives
/zh/ s
treasure
si
division
z
azure
/ch/ ch
cheese
tch
watch
tu
future
ti
question
te
righteous
ce
ocean
s
sure
/sh/ sh
shark
sci
conscience
ti
station
ci
special
si
tension
ch
machine
/th/
(unvoiced)
th
thongs
/th/
(voiced)
th
feather
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Short vowels
Sound
Common
spelling
Spelling alternatives
/a/ a
cat
ai
plaid
ea
bread
u
bury
ie
friend
ai
said
/e/ e
egg
eo
leopard
ei
heifer
ae
aesthetic
ay
say
a
many
e
england
/i/ i
igloo
ie
sieve
o
women
u
busy
ui
build
y
hymn
/o/ o
orange
a
swan
ho
honest
/u/ u
mug
o
monkey
oo
flood
ou
trouble
/oo/ oo
book
u
bush
ou
could
o
wolf
Long vowels
a
baby
eigh
weigh
aigh
straight
ay
hay
et
croquet
/ā/ ai
snail
ei
vein
au
gauge
a-e
cake
ea
break
ey
they
e
me
ea
seat
y
lady
ey
key
oe
phoenix
/ē/ ee
bee
ie
brief
i
ski
ei
receive
eo
people
ay
quay
y
fly
igh
night
ie
pie
uy
buy
/ī/
i
spider
ai
aisle
is
island
eigh
height
i-e
kite
ye
rye
o-e
bone
o
open
oe
toe
/ō/ oa
boat
eau
beau
oo
brooch
ew
sew
ow
low
ough
though
ew
screw
ue
blue
u-e
flute
oe
shoe
/ü/ oo
moon
ui
fruit
o
who
oeu
manoeuvre
ou
croup
ough
through
you
you
ew
few
iew
view
/y//ü/
(2 sounds)
u
uniform
eau
beauty
ieu
adieu
eu
feud
yu
yule
eue
queue
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/oi/ oi
coin
oy
boy
uoy
buoy
/ow/ ow
cow
ou
shout
ough
bough
ar
dollar
our
honour
or
doctor
i
dolphin
/ә/
(Schwa
sound)
er
ladder
u
cactus
ur
augur
re
centre
eur
chauffeur
e
ticket
‘R’ controlled vowels
/ã/ air
chair
are
square
ear
pear
ere
where
eir
their
ayer
prayer
/ä/ ar
car
a
bath
au
laugh
er
sergeant
ear
heart
er
term
/û/ ir
bird
yr
myrtle
ur
burn
ear
pearl
or
word
our
journey
a
ball
or
fork
oor
door
ore
more
oar
board
/ô/ aw
paw
our
four
augh
taught
ar
war
ough
bought
au
sauce
/ēә/ ear
ear
eer
steer
ere
here
ier
pier
/üә/ ure
cure
our
tourist
Letter
c /k/ as in cat, cot, cup /s/ as in city, cycle, cents
x /k//s/ as in box, fox, fix /g//z/ as in example, exam /z/ as in xylophone
q(u)* /k//w/ as in queen /k/ as in bouquet, marquis, cheque
Tricky Graphemes
There are some letters that are used to write down sounds already represented by other
graphemes. For example we use the letter c to represent the /k/ sound (already represented
by the grapheme ‘k’) and the /s/ sound (already represented by the grapheme ‘s’).
* the q is always paired with the letter u.
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