Resources › For Educators The 44 Sounds in the English Language Share Flipboard Email Print Tahreer Photography/Getty Images For Educators Special Education Reading & Writing Applied Behavior Analysis Behavior Management Lesson Plans Math Strategies Social Skills Inclusion Strategies Individual Education Plans Becoming A Teacher Assessments & Tests Elementary Education Secondary Education Teaching Homeschooling By Sue Watson Education Expert Sue Watson is a developmental support counselor who has worked in public education since 1991, specializing in developmental services, behavioral work, and special education. our editorial process Sue Watson Updated October 16, 2019 When supporting children in learning the sounds of the English language, remember to choose words that demonstrate all 44 word-sounds or phonemes. English contains 19 vowel sounds—5 short vowels, 6 long vowels, 3 diphthongs, 2 'oo' sounds, and 3 r-controlled vowel sounds—and 25 consonant sounds. The following lists provide sample words to use when teaching the sounds of the English language. You may choose to find more words to fill out word families or align with sight vocabulary lists such as a Dolch Word List. Your learners will benefit most from terms that are familiar to them or make sense in their life. The 5 Short Vowel Sounds The five short vowel sounds in English are a, e, i, o, and u. short a: and, as, and after short e: pen, hen, and lend short i: it and in short o: top and hop short u: under and cup Remember that these sounds are not necessarily indicative of spelling. Note that the above words all contain the vowel whose sound they make but this is not always the case. A word might sound as if it contains a certain vowel that is not there. Examples of words whose short vowel sounds do not correspond with their spelling are busy and does. The 6 Long Vowel Sounds The six long vowel sounds in English are a, e, i, o, u, and oo. long a: make and take long e: beet and feet long i: tie and lie long o: coat and toe long u (pronounced "yoo"): music and cute long oo: goo and droop Examples of words whose long vowel sounds do not correspond with their spelling are they, try, fruit, and few. The R-Controlled Vowel Sounds An r-controlled vowel is a vowel whose sound is influenced by the r that comes before it. The three r-controlled vowel sounds are ar, er, and or. ar: bark and dark er: her, bird, and fur or: fork, pork, and stork It is important that students pay close attention to the er sound in words because it can be created by an r-controlled e, i, or u. These vowels are all transformed into the same sound when an r is attached to the end of them. More examples of this include better, first, and turn. The 18 Consonant Sounds The letters c, q, and x are not denoted by unique phonemes because they are found in other sounds. The c sound is covered by k sounds in words like crust, crunch, and create and by s sounds in words like cereal, city, and cent (the c is found in the spelling of these words only but does not have its own phoneme). The q sound is found in kw words like backward and Kwanza. The x sound is found in ks words like kicks. b: bed and bad k: cat and kick d: dog and dip f: fat and fig g: got and girl h: has and him j: job and joke l: lid and love m: mop and math n: not and nice p: pan and play r: ran and rake s: sit and smile t: to and take v: van and vine w: water and went y: yellow and yawn z: zipper and zap The Blends Blends are formed when two or three letters combine to create a distinct consonant-sound, often at the beginning of a word. In a blend, the sounds from each original letter are still heard, they are just blended quickly and smoothly together. The following are common examples of blends. bl: blue and blow cl: clap and close fl: fly and flip gl: glue and glove pl: play and please br: brown and break cr: cry and crust dr: dry and drag fr: fry and freeze gr: great and ground pr: prize and prank tr: tree and try sk: skate and sky sl: slip and slap sp: spot and speed st: street and stop sw: sweet and sweater spr: spray and spring str: stripe and strap The 7 Digraph Sounds A digraph is formed when two consonants come together to create an entirely new sound that is distinctly different from the sounds of the letters independently. These can be found anywhere in a word but most often the beginning or end. Some examples of common digraphs are listed below. ch: chin and ouch sh: ship and push th: thing th: this wh: when ng: ring nk: rink Point out to your students that there are two sounds that th can make and be sure to provide plenty of examples. Diphthongs and Other Special Sounds A diphthong is essentially a digraph with vowels—it is formed when two vowels come together to create a new sound in a single syllable as the sound of the first vowel glides into the second. These are usually found in the middle of a word. See the list below for examples. oi: oil and toy ow: owl and ouch ey: rain Other special sounds include: short oo: took and pull aw: raw and haul zh: vision Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Watson, Sue. "The 44 Sounds in the English Language." ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/sounds-in-english-language-3111166. Watson, Sue. (2020, August 28). The 44 Sounds in the English Language. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sounds-in-english-language-3111166 Watson, Sue. "The 44 Sounds in the English Language." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/sounds-in-english-language-3111166 (accessed April 11, 2021). copy citation