English Consonants and Vowels for CTET English Paper

The English Language has originated from the Latin Language in 7th century. The language has 26 letters out of which 21 are Consonants and the rest 5 are Vowel ones.

21 Consonant Letters are pronounced in 24 different ways. In other words, we can say that the English Alphabet has 21 Consonant Letters but 24 Consonant Sounds.

Consonant Letters

B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y & Z

Consonant Sounds –

/ p /, / b /, / t /, / d /, / k /, / g /, / f /, / v /, / ө /, / ð /, / s /, / z /, / w /, / ʃ /, / ʧ /, / ʒ /, / ʤ /, / h /, / x /, / m /, / n /, / ŋ /, / j /, / r /

Note:

‘Y’ is said to be Semi vowel. It is sometimes used as a Consonant and Vowel, as in

  • Canny / kæni / – Here ‘y’ has been pronounced as a Vowel /i/
  • Funny /fɅni/
  • Yummy /jɅmi/ – Here the ‘Y’ used at the beginning is a ‘Consonant Sound’ but the ‘y’ used at last is a Vowel sound

Synopsis:

  • There are 21 Consonant Letters in English.
  • There are 24 Consonant Sounds in English.
  • Y is at once a Consonant and Vowel Sound.
  • Monophthongs and Diphthongs are two Vowel Sounds.
  • There are 5 Vowel Letters.
  • There are 20 Vowel Sounds.
  • Monophthongs are also called ‘Pure Vowels’.
  • Diphthongs are a combination of two vowel sounds considered to be a Single Vowel Sound.

Exercise:-

  1. How many Vowel Letters are there in English?
  2. How many Vowel Sounds are there in English?
  3. How many Consonant Letters are there in English?
  4. How many Consonant Letters are there in English?
  5. _____ Taj Mahal has aesthetic beauty.
  6. Which of the Articles can be used with ‘Everest’?
  7. Which is correct ‘His + the + Superlative Degree’ or ‘The + Superlative Degree’?
  8. How many letters are there in the English Alphabet?
  9. Which Article can be used with ‘LLB’, ‘MBA’, ‘MLA’?
  10. Is ‘He is the Kohli in our team’ is correct?