The English Alphabet: 26 Letters, How to Say Each One, and How to Spell Things Out on the Phone

You call a foreign bank to open an account. The staff member asks for your last name, you say "Nguyen," the other end of the line doesn't catch it and asks you to spell it out letter by letter. You say N, G, U, Y, E, N. They repeat it back: "M, J, U, I, I, M?"

The twenty-six letters are the first lesson for almost everyone learning English, and also the only one nobody ever goes back to check. You've known the order from A to Z since primary school. But knowing the order and pronouncing each letter's name correctly are two different things, and only the second one saves you when you have to read out an email address to someone who can't see your screen.

This page has the full table of 26 letters with letter-name transcriptions, the mistakes that almost every Vietnamese learner makes, a set of phrases for spelling out names and emails over the phone, the NATO code table that call centers and airlines still use, and finally the pairs of letter names most often misheard when people spell quickly.

• The full English alphabet, all 26 letters
• Vowels, consonants, and the matter of letter names differing from letter sounds
• Three rhyme groups hidden inside the alphabet
• Five mistakes Vietnamese learners often make when pronouncing letter names
• Spelling out names and emails over the phone
• The NATO phonetic alphabet table
• Listen: letter-name pairs that are easily misheard
• Frequently asked questions

The full English alphabet, all 26 letters

The table below records the letter name, that is, what you say when spelling something out, not the sound that letter produces inside a word. These two things are different, and the section below goes into it in detail.

The "Approximate reading" column is only there to give you a quick sense of it, not to be used in place of the transcription. Vietnamese has no built-in sound for /dʒ/, /f/, /z/, or the final consonant /l/, so every way of transcribing these into Vietnamese script is off by a bit. When the two columns disagree, trust the IPA column.

Letter	Letter name (IPA)	Approximate reading	Common trap
A a	/eɪ/	ây	Not read as "a". Rhymes with H, J, K.
B b	/biː/	bi (long i)	Very easily turns into V or P over the phone.
C c	/siː/	xi (long i)	Not read as "xê". The initial sound is /s/, not /k/.
D d	/diː/	đi (long i)	Easily confused with T and B within the same rhyme group.
E e	/iː/	i (long)	This is actually the letter read as "i". Very many people mistakenly read it as /aɪ/.
F f	/ef/	ép	The ending is /f/, lower lip touching upper teeth, not /p/.
G g	/dʒiː/	ji (initial sound as in "job")	Starts like J but rhymes like E.
H h	/eɪtʃ/	ây-ch	Not "hát". The letter name H does not begin with the /h/ sound at all.
I i	/aɪ/	ai	Read as "ai", not "i".
J j	/dʒeɪ/	jây	Starts like G but rhymes like A.
K k	/keɪ/	kây	Aspirated at the start, rhymes with A, H, J.
L l	/el/	eo (tongue tip touching the upper gum ridge)	Dropping the final /l/ sound is the most common mistake.
M m	/em/	em	Differs from N by exactly one detail: the two lips close at the end.
N n	/en/	en	Differs from M by exactly one detail: tongue tip touches the gum ridge, lips open.
O o	/əʊ/ (British), /oʊ/ (American)	âu	It's a diphthong, the mouth must glide, not stay still at "ô".
P p	/piː/	pi (long i)	Aspirated more clearly than B. Vietnamese speakers often aspirate too lightly, so it comes out as B.
Q q	/kjuː/	kiu	There's a /j/ sound slipped in the middle, not "quy".
R r	/ɑː/ (British), /ɑːr/ (American)	long a	Not "rờ". American accents curl the tongue at the end, British accents don't.
S s	/es/	ét (ending /s/)	Shares the same frame as F and X, differing only in the ending.
T t	/tiː/	ti (long i)	Aspirated more clearly than D. Lacking enough aspiration makes the listener write it down as D.
U u	/juː/	iu	Has a /j/ at the start, pronounced exactly like the word "you".
V v	/viː/	vi (long i)	Upper teeth touch the lower lip and vibrate. Completely different from B.
W w	/ˈdʌbəljuː/	đắp-bờ-liu	Three syllables, stress on the first syllable. The longest letter name in the table.
X x	/eks/	ếch-s	Three sounds linked together: /e/ then /k/ then /s/.
Y y	/waɪ/	oai	Pronounced exactly like the word "why".
Z z	/zed/ (British), /ziː/ (American)	zét or zi	The only letter whose name changes completely between the two accents.

If you're studying pronunciation more systematically for whole words rather than just letter names, the foundation for that is in the article English pronunciation, which explains the system of 44 sounds and how to place the tongue for each one.

Vowels, consonants, and the matter of letter names differing from letter sounds

Among the 26 letters, five are counted as vowels: A, E, I, O, U. The remaining twenty-one are consonants. Y alone stands between the two groups: it behaves like a consonant at the start of a word ("yes", "yellow") but behaves like a vowel in the middle and at the end of a word ("gym", "happy", "my"). Textbooks tend to write "A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y", and that way of putting it is more accurate than forcing Y to pick a side.

The part that confuses many learners is that letter names and letter sounds don't match. The letter name is what you say when spelling something out. The letter sound is what that letter contributes within a word. A single letter can carry several different sounds depending on its position:

• The letter C is named /siː/ but gives the sound /k/ in "cat" and the sound /s/ in "city".
• The letter G is named /dʒiː/ but gives the sound /ɡ/ in "go" and the sound /dʒ/ in "giant".
• The letter A is named /eɪ/ but in "cat" it's /æ/, in "car" it's /ɑː/, in "about" it drops down to /ə/.
• The letter E at the end of a word usually isn't pronounced at all, it just lengthens the vowel before it: "hat" becomes "hate", "not" becomes "note".

The practical consequence: knowing the alphabet by heart doesn't help you read an unfamiliar word. It only helps you spell things out and look words up. To read an unfamiliar word, you need the sound system, not the letter-name system. Beginners often get stuck at exactly this point, and the article learning English from zero walks through what order to learn things in.

Three rhyme groups hidden inside the alphabet

This is a part that few Vietnamese-language materials cover, but it explains almost all the mishearing that happens when spelling things out. The names of the 26 letters aren't spread out evenly. They cluster into three rhyme patterns, and within each pattern, the only thing distinguishing one letter from another is a short consonant.

Rhyme pattern	Letters in the group	Shared part	The one distinguishing part
/iː/	B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, and Z in the American accent	Long /iː/ ending	The initial consonant, lasting less than a tenth of a second
/eɪ/	A, H, J, K	The diphthong /eɪ/	The initial consonant; H alone also has a /tʃ/ ending, and A has no initial consonant
Starting with /e/	F, L, M, N, S, X, and Z in the British accent	Begins with /e/	The ending part: /f/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /ks/
Standing alone	I, O, Q, R, U, W, Y	Doesn't match any pattern	This group is almost never misheard

Looking at this table you'll understand why call center staff ask you to repeat yourself so often. When someone says "B," all the information sits in one extremely short plosive consonant before a long vowel. If the line drops that initial part, what's left is /iː/, and that /iː/ could be any one of the nine letters in group one.

Five mistakes Vietnamese learners often make when pronouncing letter names

1. Pronouncing G and J the same way

Both start with /dʒ/, so Vietnamese ears file them into one box. The difference lies entirely in the rhyme: G is /dʒiː/, ending in the taut, long vowel /iː/. J is /dʒeɪ/, ending in the diphthong /eɪ/, which has a glide. In other words, G rhymes with B and C, while J rhymes with A and K.

Self-check trick: say "G, J, G, J" in a row. If the two sound the same, you're pronouncing at least one of them wrong. Said correctly, your mouth should change shape noticeably between the two.

2. Getting E and I backwards

This mistake comes straight from Vietnamese, where the letter "i" is read as /i/. Learners carry that habit over, ending up reading the English letter I as "i" and getting stuck on how to read E. The truth is the reverse: E is /iː/ and I is /aɪ/.

This is the costliest mistake on this list, because E and I show up in almost every email address and every full name. Misreading a single E means the other person writes down the whole address wrong.

3. Reading H as "hát"

The "hát" pronunciation is a leftover from French in the old education system, and it's still passed down by word of mouth today. The name of the letter H in English is /eɪtʃ/, starting with the exact same diphthong as the letter A and closing with /tʃ/. There's no /h/ sound at the start at all.

You may hear some native English speakers say /heɪtʃ/, mainly in Ireland and parts of England. That's a real regional variant, but it's not the standard to learn, and in exams or a workplace setting you should use /eɪtʃ/.

4. Reading R as "rờ" or "e-rờ"

The name of the letter R is /ɑː/ in British English and /ɑːr/ in American English. It starts with an open vowel, mouth wide open, like when a doctor asks you to say "ah". The tongue curl only comes at the end, and only in the American accent.

Vietnamese speakers often add an /r/ sound at the beginning because in Vietnamese the letter "r" sits at the start of a syllable. The result is that the letter R comes out as a short growled sound, and the listener can't place it as any letter at all.

5. Reading Y, Q, W, Z the old habitual way

These four letters often get read the French way or the way they're commonly called domestically. Y is not "i-cờ-rét" but /waɪ/, pronounced exactly like the word "why". Q is not "quy" but /kjuː/, with a small /j/ sound wedged between /k/ and /uː/. W has three full syllables, /ˈdʌbəljuː/, not shortened to two. Z varies by accent: /zed/ in Britain, Australia, Canada, and /ziː/ in the US. Pick one accent and use it consistently, don't mix them.

Spelling out names and emails over the phone

This is the situation where the alphabet actually gets used in real life: booking a ticket, opening an account, confirming an order, reading out an email to a hotel receptionist. You need three things: a set of opening phrases, how to say the symbols, and the habit of pairing each letter with an example word.

Phrases for opening and asking for clarification

• Could you spell that for me, please? The politest way to ask the other person to spell something out.
• How do you spell your last name? Asking how a surname is written.
• Let me spell that for you. A heads-up that you're about to spell something, so the other person can get their pen ready.
• That is B as in Bravo. Or shortened to B for Bravo. This is the most important phrase on this list.
• Double L. Two of the same letter L in a row. Three identical letters, say triple.
• Capital A, lowercase a. Uppercase and lowercase letters.
• All one word, no space. Written together, no space.
• Was that M as in Mike, or N as in November? The right question to ask at exactly the point where confusion is most likely.

Reading symbols in emails and web addresses

Symbol	Read as	IPA	Notes on usage
@	at	/æt/	In an email you only need to say "at", no need to say "at sign".
.	dot	/dɒt/	Always "dot" in emails and web addresses, not "point".
_	underscore	/ˈʌndəskɔː/	The underline mark. Say it clearly since it's easily heard as a hyphen.
-	hyphen	/ˈhaɪfn/	The dash mark. Americans often say "dash" /dæʃ/.
/	forward slash	/ˈfɔːwəd slæʃ/	Used in web addresses. The reverse slash is "backslash".
+	plus	/plʌs/	Commonly seen in Gmail addresses with a tag added.
0	zero or oh	/ˈzɪərəʊ/, /əʊ/	When reading out a long string of numbers, native speakers often say "oh" for speed.

Example with a Vietnamese name

Vietnamese names carry diacritics, and diacritics don't exist in the listener's system. Strip them all off first, then spell out each letter without the marks. The letter Đ is read as D. Here's how someone named Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh would do it:

My last name is Nguyen. Let me spell that for you: N as in November, G as in Golf, U as in Uniform, Y as in Yankee, E as in Echo, N as in November. My email is mai dot anh dot nguyen at gmail dot com, all lowercase.

Read slowly, pause half a beat after each letter, and group three to four letters at a time instead of reading all six letters in one breath. The person writing it down needs time. If your name has a letter in the /iː/ rhyme group like B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, attach the example word right from the start — don't wait to be asked again.

This set of phrases belongs to the same family as the ones you use when introducing yourself in English, and both are worth knowing by heart before an important call.

The NATO phonetic alphabet

When you say "B as in Bravo", that word Bravo wasn't just made up on the spot. It's part of a standard international code issued by ICAO, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet. Pilots, air traffic controllers, the military, bank call centers, and customer service departments of major companies all use this set.

Each code word was chosen because it's long, has multiple syllables, and doesn't resemble any other word in the set. That's exactly how it compensates for the rhyme-group problem covered above: instead of distinguishing B from V with one short consonant, you distinguish "Bravo" from "Victor" with an entire word.

Letter	Code word	Pronunciation (IPA)
A	Alfa	/ˈælfə/
B	Bravo	/ˈbrɑːvəʊ/
C	Charlie	/ˈtʃɑːli/
D	Delta	/ˈdeltə/
E	Echo	/ˈekəʊ/
F	Foxtrot	/ˈfɒkstrɒt/
G	Golf	/ɡɒlf/
H	Hotel	/həʊˈtel/
I	India	/ˈɪndiə/
J	Juliett	/ˈdʒuːliet/
K	Kilo	/ˈkiːləʊ/
L	Lima	/ˈliːmə/
M	Mike	/maɪk/
N	November	/nəʊˈvembə/
O	Oscar	/ˈɒskə/
P	Papa	/pəˈpɑː/
Q	Quebec	/kəˈbek/
R	Romeo	/ˈrəʊmiəʊ/
S	Sierra	/siˈerə/
T	Tango	/ˈtæŋɡəʊ/
U	Uniform	/ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/
V	Victor	/ˈvɪktə/
W	Whiskey	/ˈwɪski/
X	X-ray	/ˈeksreɪ/
Y	Yankee	/ˈjæŋki/
Z	Zulu	/ˈzuːluː/

Two spelling details worth knowing. The official version writes Alfa and Juliett, deliberately dropping the "ph" and adding a "t", because French speakers pronounce "ph" differently and a single-t "Juliet" can easily lose its final sound. In everyday use most people write Alpha and Juliet, and no one misunderstands.

You don't need to memorize all 26 words. Learning the four letters most often confused in your own name is enough for ninety percent of situations. But you should be able to recognize this code set by ear, since call centers will use it with you even when you don't use it with them.

Listening: letter-name pairs that are easily misheard

Reading correctly and listening correctly are two separate skills. You can pronounce all 26 letters perfectly and still write down the wrong one when someone else spells quickly, because at that moment you have no time to think and can't see their mouth shape.

Below are the pairs that cause the most trouble, ranked by how often they come up.

Pair easy to confuse	Pronunciation	The one and only difference	How to catch it
B and V	/biː/ and /viː/	Both lips pressed together vs. teeth touching the lower lip	V has a sustained buzzing sound at the start, B pops out and then stops immediately
B and P	/biː/ and /piː/	P has a strong burst of air	Listen for a small puff of air right after the initial consonant
D and T	/diː/ and /tiː/	T is aspirated, D vibrates the vocal cords	Same as the B and P pair, listen for the airflow
G and J	/dʒiː/ and /dʒeɪ/	Lies in the rhyme, not the initial consonant	Skip the beginning, listen to the ending: /iː/ or /eɪ/
C and Z (American accent)	/siː/ and /ziː/	Z vibrates the vocal cords	Put your hand on your throat while reading it yourself — Z makes it vibrate, C doesn't
M and N	/em/ and /en/	Only the final sound differs	M closes the lips so the sound cuts off sharply, N leaves the lips still open
F and S	/ef/ and /es/	Only the final sound differs	S is sharp and high, F is duller and more blurred
I and Y	/aɪ/ and /waɪ/	Y has a /w/ sound at the start	Listen for whether there's a rounded-lip sound before the vowel
A, H, J, K	/eɪ/, /eɪtʃ/, /dʒeɪ/, /keɪ/	The initial consonant and H's /tʃ/ ending	H is the only letter in the group that has an ending

When someone spells out six or seven letters in a row, everything gets even harder. The letters stick to each other, the final consonant of one letter swallows into the initial consonant of the next, and what you hear is a chain of sounds, not separate units. That's exactly the phenomenon of connected speech described in detail in the article connected speech, and it doesn't just happen with letters — it happens with everything in spoken English.

The fix isn't listening over and over and nodding along, because nodding doesn't check anything. The fix is dictation practice: listen to a short passage, write down exactly what you hear word for word, then compare it against the transcript. A dictation gone wrong doesn't lie. If you write "B" and the answer is "V", you know exactly where your ear slipped, and that same slip repeats itself across many passages.

On WELE, the library of more than 800 podcast episodes all come with transcripts, the system grades every word you write down, and the words you get wrong are put into spaced repetition review so you meet them again after a few days. You can start for free with a few short podcast episodes with transcripts, or if you're not sure what level you're at, take the listening level test first to pick episodes that match your level. The exact step-by-step process is in the article 5 steps for effective dictation practice.

Frequently asked questions

How many vowels are there in the English alphabet

Five vowel letters are A, E, I, O, U, and Y is counted as well when it acts as a vowel, like in "gym" or "happy". But the number of vowel letters isn't the same as the number of vowel sounds: English has about twenty vowel sounds written using those five letters and their combinations. That's why the letter A is pronounced differently in "cat", "car", and "about".

Is the letter H pronounced "hát" or "ây-chờ"

It's /eɪtʃ/, close to "ây-ch". The pronunciation "hát" comes from French and isn't used in English. There's a variant /heɪtʃ/ heard in Ireland and some parts of England, but you should learn it as /eɪtʃ/.

Is Z pronounced "zed" or "zi", which one is correct

Both are correct, they just differ by region. Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada use /zed/. The US uses /ziː/. The only thing to avoid is mixing the two accents within the same conversation. Note that the American /ziː/ falls into exactly the same rhyme group as B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, so it's easier to mishear than /zed/.

How do I avoid confusing G and J when someone else is spelling something out

Don't try to listen for the initial consonant, because the two letters sound identical there. Listen to the ending: G ends with /iː/ held steady in one place, J ends with /eɪ/ which glides downward. If you're still not sure, ask again using the standard phrase: "G as in Golf, or J as in Juliett?"

Should children learn letter names or letter sounds first

For the goal of being able to read words, letter sounds matter more and should come first or alongside. Letter names are only needed for spelling things out and looking words up in a dictionary. Many adults learning English run into this exact same problem: they know the order from A to Z by heart but still can't read an unfamiliar word, because what's missing is the set of sounds, not the set of names.

After finishing the alphabet, what should I learn next

Move on to small, closed systems — things with a finite count that get used every day: numbers, months of the year, days of the week, telling time, the four seasons. They take little effort to memorize but show up in nearly every conversation, so the payoff is much higher than learning isolated vocabulary. You can check your current vocabulary with the free vocabulary test to know where to start.

Twenty-six letters is the smallest set in English and also the set you use the most in real life, every time you read out an email or confirm a name. Saying it correctly is half the job; hearing it correctly when someone else says it fast is the other half, and that half only gets solid once you test your own ear with dictation practice instead of trusting the feeling that you've already understood.