The 41 sounds of English

English spelling has 26 letters and roughly 41 sounds, and the two do not line up — which is the whole reason pronunciation is hard. The IPA fixes that: one symbol, one sound, always. Each guide below explains how to physically make one sound, the mistake learners make with it, the words that carry it, and the sounds it gets confused with.

Consonants (24)

The 24 consonants — the sounds made by getting in the way of the air.

Vowels (12)

The pure vowels — the mouth holds one shape all the way through.

Diphthongs (5)

The gliding vowels — the mouth moves from one shape to another inside a single syllable.

Then apply them to real words

Once a sound behaves on its own, it still has to survive inside a word. The A–Z pronunciation guide takes words apart sound by sound and shows where each one hides.