The 44 distinct phonemes of English are typically divided into two categories: consonant sounds and vowel sounds. The precise number and classification can vary slightly depending on accent or dialect, but the following is a standard model.
There are approximately 44 distinct phonemes, or individual sounds, in the English language. They are traditionally broken down into 24 consonant sounds and 20 vowel sounds.
The exact number can vary slightly depending on the accent or dialect being referenced. The following examples are based on common pronunciations found in standard resources.
Here are the sounds with examples:
Consonant phonemes
Here are the 24 English consonant sounds:
/p/ as in pie, pan, apple, happy, hip
/b/ as in bug, bag, robber, rub, lab
/t/ as in tap, tip, matter, cat, light
/d/ as in dad, dog, add, filled, riddle
/k/ as in cat, kite, queen, stock, acclaim
/g/ as in gun, game, egg, ghost, guest
/f/ as in fan, phone, laugh, half, calf
/v/ as in van, love, have, five, of
/s/ as in sit, city, less, face, pass
/z/ as in zip, zoo, fuzz, has, craze
/h/ as in hop, hat, he, who, hill
/θ/ as in thin, thongs, thing, both, path
/ð/ as in this, that, the, leather, smooth
/ʃ/ as in ship, shop, sure, ocean, passion
/ʒ/ as in treasure, division, garage, beige, azure
/ʧ/ as in chip, chat, watch, catch, future
/ʤ/ as in jam, jet, page, edge, giraffe
/m/ as in man, map, summer, comb, him
/n/ as in net, nip, funny, know, gnat
/ŋ/ as in ring, sing, sink, blocking, tongue
/l/ as in lip, live, fell, well, bell
/r/ as in rat, run, carrot, wrong, rhyme
/w/ as in wet, wait, why, quick, choir
/j/ as in yes, you, yam, yellow, onion
Vowel phonemes
The 20 English vowel sounds are made up of 12 single vowels and 8 gliding vowels (diphthongs).
Short vowels
/æ/ as in apple, cat, bat, laugh, plaid
/e/ as in egg, pet, red, bread, friend
/ɪ/ as in it, sit, pig, women, busy
/ɒ/ as in on, hot, log, wash, want
/ʌ/ as in up, cup, but, flood, monkey
/ʊ/ as in put, book, could, pull, should
/ə/ (schwa) as in about, comma, teacher, sofa, pencil
Long vowels
/iː/ as in see, me, feet, meat, believe
/uː/ as in blue, flute, soon, moon, through
/ɑː/ as in arm, father, car, start, park
/ɔː/ as in four, door, fork, board, caught
/ɜː/ as in bird, her, turn, word, journey
Diphthongs (gliding vowels)
/eɪ/ as in age, paid, day, play, eight
/aɪ/ as in ice, my, eye, tie, flight
/ɔɪ/ as in boy, join, toy, coin, noise
/aʊ/ as in out, now, mouth, cow, brown
/əʊ/ as in open, boat, know, toe, snow
/ɪə/ as in ear, here, deer, fear, clear
/eə/ as in air, chair, their, care, fare
/ʊə/ as in pure, cure, tourist, sure, duel
