Consonants in English

A consonant is a speech sound made by partly or completely blocking the flow of air with the lips, teeth, or tongue. English spells its consonant sounds with 21 letters (every letter except a, e, i, o, u), but there are actually 24 consonant sounds — some spelled with letter pairs like sh and th.

Consonants and vowels play different roles in a syllable: the vowel sound is the core of every syllable, and consonants form its edges — the beginning (onset) and the end (coda). That's why counting vowel sounds, not consonants, tells you how many syllables a word has.

All 21 consonant letters

Every letter of the alphabet except the five vowels is a consonant:

b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z

Y and W do double duty: they are consonants in yes and wet, but help spell vowel sounds in gym, my and cow.

The 24 consonant sounds of English

Browse word lists by sound group: fricatives, affricates, nasals, liquids, glides, voiced and voiceless consonants.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Put your fingers on your throat and say "zzz" — you'll feel a buzz. That's a voiced consonant (your vocal cords vibrate). Now say "sss" — no buzz: voiceless. Many English consonants come in voiced/voiceless pairs made in exactly the same mouth position:

• /b/–/p/ (bat / pat)
• /d/–/t/ (dip / tip)
• /g/–/k/ (goat / coat)
• /v/–/f/ (van / fan)
• /z/–/s/ (zip / sip)
• /ð/–/θ/ (this / think)

The main types of consonants

Stops (plosives)

The airflow is stopped completely, then released in a small burst: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/ — as in pen, bed, top, dog, cat, go.

Fricatives

Air is squeezed through a narrow gap, making friction: /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/ — as in fish, van, think, this, sun, zoo, ship, vision, hat.

Affricates

A stop that releases into a fricative: /tʃ/ as in church and /dʒ/ as in jump.

Nasals

Air flows out through the nose: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ — as in man, net, ring.

Liquids

Air flows smoothly around the tongue: /l/ as in leg and /r/ as in red.

Glides (semivowels)

Vowel-like sounds that act as consonants: /w/ as in wet and /j/ as in yes.

Digraphs vs. blends

These two are easy to confuse, and the difference matters for dividing words into syllables:

• A digraph is two letters spelling one sound: ship, chat, thin, phone, ring. Digraphs stay together when a word splits into syllables (tea·cher).
• A blend is two or three consonants pronounced in sequence, each keeping its own sound: stop, blue, street.

Consonants and syllables

Consonants decide a syllable's type: a syllable that ends in a consonant is closed (short vowel, as in cat), while one that ends in a vowel is open (long vowel, as in go). When two consonants sit between vowels, the syllable break usually falls between them: rab·bit, bas·ket. See all six syllable types for more.

Frequently asked questions

How many consonants are there in English?

English has 21 consonant letters (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z) and 24 consonant sounds. There are more sounds than letters because some sounds are spelled with two letters, such as sh, ch, th and ng.

Is Y a vowel or a consonant?

Both. Y is a consonant at the start of a word or syllable, as in yes and yellow, and a vowel when it makes a vowel sound, as in gym, my and happy.

What is the difference between a consonant digraph and a blend?

A digraph is two letters that spell one sound (sh in ship, ch in chat). A blend is two or three consonants said one after another, each keeping its own sound (st in stop, bl in blue).

Do consonants affect how many syllables a word has?

No. The number of syllables equals the number of vowel sounds. Consonants decide where the syllables break and whether a syllable is open or closed.