The 44 sounds of English, explained simply

26 letters, 44 sounds

The alphabet is too small for English. We say around 44 distinct sounds — phonemes — and spell them with letters and letter teams. That's why sh makes one sound with two letters, and why the letter a sounds different in cat, day, and car.

The families

Short vowels (the a in cat), long vowels (the a in day), consonants (p, b, t, d and friends), digraphs like sh and ch, and the R-flavoured vowels in her, car, and law. Our Knowledge Base has a page for every single one, with example words and audio.

Why it matters

When you know the sounds exist, you stop blaming the child for “careless” spelling and start teaching the code. That mental shift changes everything about how reading practice feels at home.