English Alphabet - Worldometer

English Alphabet

The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. Each letter has an uppercase ("capital letter") and a lowercase ("small letter") form.

# Capital
Letter		 Small
Letter		 Name
1 A a a
2 B b bee
3 C c cee
4 D d dee
5 E e e
6 F f ef
7 G g gee
8 H h (h)aitch
9 I i i
10 J j jay
11 K k kay
12 L l el
13 M m em
14 N n en
15 O o o
16 P p pee
17 Q q cue
18 R r ar
19 S s ess
20 T t tee
21 U u u
22 V v vee
23 W w double-u
24 X x ex
25 Y y wy
26 Z z zee/zed

Notes

  • Five of the letters in the English Alphabet are vowels: A, E, I, O, U.
  • The remaining 21 letters are consonants: B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Z, and usually W and Y.
    Written English includes the digraphs: ch ci ck gh ng ph qu rh sc sh th ti wh wr zh. These are not considered separate letters of the alphabet.
  • Two letters, “A” and “I,” also constitute words.
  • Until fairly recently (until 1835), the 27th letter of the alphabet (right after "z") was the ampersand (&).
  • The English Alphabet is based on the Latin script, which is the basic set of letters common to the various alphabets originating from the classical Latin alphabet.

Old English

  • The Old English alphabet letters were 29: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z & ⁊ Ƿ Þ Ð Æ
  • The Old English alphabet was recorded in the year 1011 by a monk named Byrhtferð and included the 24 letters of the Latin alphabet (including ampersand) and 5 additional English letters: Long S (ſ), Eth (Ð and ð), Thorn (þ), Wynn (ƿ) and Ash (ᚫ; later Æ and æ).
  • With respect to Modern English, Old English did not include J, U, and W.

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