English Phonics
The English Alphabet
● 26 letters
● Capital (uppercase) from (A-Z)
● Small (lowercase) from (a-z)
Vowels and consonants.
● 21 consonants
● 5 vowels
● Consonants form no words if left alone
● Vowels act as a bridge between consonants to form words
Importance of vowels.
The two consonants ‘b’ and ‘g’ do not form any word if left alone(b g)
Vowels act as a bridge between two consonants.
For example: bag, big,beg etc.
These words are known as consonant- vowels- consonant words(CVC)
Here is a phonics table to help you understand the sounds and corresponding
letter combinations:
Vowels
| Sound | Letter Combination | Examples |
| ----- | ------------------ | --------- |
| /a/ | a, ai, ay | cat, rain, play |
| /ā/ | ai, ay, ei | pain, bay, vein |
| /e/ | e, ee, ea | pet, meet, seat |
| /ē/ | ee, ea, ei | meet, meat, veil |
| /i/ | i, i-e | hit, bite |
| /ī/ | i-e, ie | bite, pie |
| /o/ | o, o-e | hot, boat |
| /ō/ | o-e, oa | boat, coat |
| /u/ | u, u-e | but, cute |
| /ū/ | u-e, oo | cute, moon |
Here are the phonics rules for consonants and vowels:
Vowel Rules:
1. Short Vowel Rule:
Vowels (a, e, i, o, u) sound short when followed by a consonant (cat, pet, hit).
2. Long Vowel Rule:
Vowels sound long when:
- At the end of a word (go, mine).
- Followed by a silent e (cake, pine).
- In a vowel digraph (ai, ee, oa).
3. Vowel Digraphs:
- ai (rain), ay (play), ei (vein), oy (boy), ou (out).
- ee (meet), ea (seat), oa (boat), oo (moon).
4. Diphthongs:
- oi (boil), ou (out), ow (how).
Consonant Rules:
1. Stop Consonants: /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, /g/ sounds.
2. Fricative Consonants: /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /sh/, /ch/, /th/.
3. Silent Consonants:
- Silent k (knee), silent g (gnat).
- Silent p (psych), silent b (dumb).
4. Consonant Digraphs:
- ch (chip), sh (shop), th (thin), wh (which).
Special Rules:
1. C before e, i, or y: sounds like s e.g (cent, cycle).
2. G before e, i, or y: sounds like j (gent, giant)
3. Qu: / sounds like ‘kw’ (queen).
4. Wr: sounds like ‘r’ (write).
5. X: sounds like ‘ks’ (fox).
Exceptions:
1. Foreign words (e.g., rendezvous).
2. Proper nouns (e.g., Keith).
3. Irregular words (e.g., science).
Keep in mind:
- Phonics rules have exceptions.
- Pronunciation varies by accent and region.
