Letters: Vowels and Consonants in English
There are 26 letters in the English Alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
A letter can represent a vowel OR a consonant.
There are 5 vowels in English:
A, E, I, O, U
There are 21 consonants in English:
B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z
All words in English have a vowel.
Examples of vowels and consonants in words:
Dog
D is a consonant, O is a vowel, G is a consonant.
Eat
E is a vowel, A is a vowel, T is a consonant
Cake
C is a consonant, A is a vowel, K is a consonant, E is a vowel
Pie
P is a consonant, I is a vowel, E is a vowel
Unicorn
U is a vowel, N is a consonant, I is a vowel, C is a consonant, O is a vowel, R is a consonant, N is a consonant.
Is the letter Y a vowel or a consonant?
Traditionally, A E I O and U are vowels and the rest of the letters are consonants.
See our lesson about the difference between a vowel and a consonant for more information.
However, sometimes the letter Y represents a vowel sound AND sometimes a consonant sound.
Y as a vowel
The letter Y is considered a vowel when:
there is no other vowel in the word:
- fry, sly, gym, myth
the Y is after a consonant at the end of a word:
- happy, early, company, baby, twenty (in these words the Y has a long E sound)
- July, cry, shy, sky, fly (in these words the Y has a long I sound)
the Y is after a vowel at the end of a word.
These two vowels create a diphthong.
(diphthong = a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable):
- play, day, chimney, monkey, boy, annoy
the Y is at the end of a syllable:
- cycle, pylon, tyrant, dynamite
the Y is in the middle of a syllable:
- system, typical, pyramid
Look at the word mystery.
The letter Y appears in the word mystery twice.
The first Y is a vowel because it is in the middle of the syllable MYS
The final Y is a vowel because it is at the end of word (before a consonant) and has the long E sound.
Some people will say the word mystery only has one vowel because it only has one E (which is one of the five traditional vowels). However, the word mystery has three vowels because the two Ys both make a vowel sound.
Y as a consonant
When the letter Y is at the start of word it produces a distinctive Y sound.
- Year, yellow, yes, young
When we pronounce this initial Y, we are not letting the air flow freely like a vowel.
When Y is at the start of syllable, it also has the distinctive Y sound:
- Beyond, lawyer
Since the Y sound (for example at the beginning of a word) is so distinctive and cannot be replaced by other letters, it is this reason the letter Y is considered more a consonant than a vowel.
However as you have seen, it is more common to find the letter Y used as vowel more than as a consonant.
Practice Exercise
Does the letter Y have a vowel sound or a consonant sound in the word?
Happy
– The Y in happy has a vowel sound
Yellow
– The Y in yellow has a consonant sound
System
– The Y in system has a vowel sound
Fry
– The Y in fry has a vowel sound
Beyond
– The Y in beyond has a consonant sound
Yes
– The Y in yes has a consonant sound
Myth
– The Y in myth has a vowel sound
Bicycle
– The Y in bicycle has a vowel sound
Lawyer
– The Y in lawyer has a consonant sound
Yard
– The Y in yard has a consonant sound
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
Hi Everyone! Pernah dengar tentang cardinal dan ordinal numbers?
Cardinal Numbers adalah angka yang merujuk pada jumlah suatu barang atau hal seperti one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, dan lain sebagainya.
Sedangkan Ordinal Numbers adalah angka yang merujuk pada tingkatan, peringkat atau memberitahu posisi sesuatu dalam daftar, seperti first, second, third, fourth, dan lain sebagainya.
| Number | Cardinal | Number | Ordinal |
| 1 | one | 1st | first |
| 2 | two | 2nd | second |
| 3 | three | 3rd | third |
| 4 | four | 4th | fourth |
| 5 | five | 5th | fifth |
| 6 | six | 6th | sixth |
| 7 | seven | 7th | seventh |
| 8 | eight | 8th | eighth |
| 9 | nine | 9th | ninth |
| 10 | ten | 10th | tenth |
| 11 | eleven | 11th | eleventh |
| 12 | twelve | 12th | twelfth |
| 13 | thirteen | 13th | thirteenth |
| 14 | fourteen | 14th | fourteenth |
| 15 | fifteen | 15th | fifteenth |
| 16 | sixteen | 16th | sixteenth |
| 17 | seventeen | 17th | seventeenth |
| 18 | eighteen | 18th | eighteenth |
| 19 | nineteen | 19th | nineteenth |
| 20 | twenty | 20th | twentieth |
| 21 | twenty-one | 21st | twenty-first |
| 22 | twenty-two | 22nd | twenty-second |
| 23 | twenty-three | 23rd | twenty-third |
| 24 | twenty-four | 24th | twenty-fourth |
| 25 | twenty-five | 25th | twenty-fifth |
| 26 | twenty-six | 26th | twenty-sixth |
| 27 | twenty-seven | 27th | twenty-seventh |
| 28 | twenty-eight | 28th | twenty-eighth |
| 29 | twenty-nine | 29th | twenty-ninth |
| 30 | thirty | 30th | thirtieth |
| 31 | thirty-one | 31st | thirty-first |
| 40 | forty | ||
| 50 | fifty | ||
| 60 | sixty | ||
| 70 | seventy | ||
| 80 | eighty | ||
| 90 | ninety | ||
| 100 | a/one hundred | ||
| 1,000 | a/one thousand | ||
| 10,000 | ten thousand | ||
| 100,000 | a/one hundred thousand | ||
| 1,000,000 | a/one million | ||
| 1,000,000,000 | a/one billion |