Letter A sound
/a/
Short AOpen your mouth wide like a little yawn and say “a, a, a”.
/ā/
Long AThis sound says the letter’s name, just like when you sing “A, B, C”.
HomeLetter Sounds
Letter Sounds: A to Z Phonics for Little Learners
Every letter has a sound, and some have two. Tap a word to hear it, copy the sound together and spot it at the start of animal names. Short, simple and made for ages 3 to 6.
26letters
132words to hear
5vowels
Pick a letter
Tap a letter, then tap a word to hear it.
Phonics A to Z
Every letter and the sound it makes
Read the tip, tap a word to hear it, then say it back together. Filter vowels and consonants or search for a letter.
Letter B sound
/b/
The B soundClose your lips, then pop them open with a quick “b, b, b” like a bouncing ball.
Letter C sound
/k/
Hard CLift the back of your tongue, then let it go with a quick “k, k, k” like a little cough.
/s/
Soft CWhen C comes before e, i or y, it often hisses like a snake and says “sss”.
Letter D sound
/d/
The D soundTouch your tongue behind your top teeth and let it drop with a quick “d, d, d” like a drum.
Letter E sound
/e/
Short EOpen your mouth a little, smile a tiny bit and say “eh, eh, eh”.
/ē/
Long ESmile wide and say “ee”, the same as the name of the letter.
Letter F sound
/f/
The F soundPut your top teeth on your bottom lip and blow out softly, “fff”, like a little fan.
Letter G sound
/g/
Hard GPush the back of your tongue up high, then let it go with a little “g, g, g” from your throat.
/j/
Soft GThis G sounds just like J, the way it does at the start of “giraffe”.
Letter H sound
/h/
H soundOpen your mouth and breathe out a quick puff of air, like you are fogging up a window: “h, h, h”.
Letter I sound
/i/
Short ISmile just a little and say a quick “i, i, i”, like the start of “itchy”.
/ī/
Long IThis sound says the letter’s name, just like when you sing “I” in the alphabet song.
Letter J sound
/j/
J soundPush your lips out a little, put your tongue behind your top teeth and say “j, j, j” like a bouncy jump.
Letter K sound
/k/
K soundLift the back of your tongue, then let a little puff of air pop out: “k, k, k”.
Letter L sound
/l/
L soundTouch the tip of your tongue to the bumpy spot just behind your top teeth and sing “lll”.
Letter M sound
/m/
M soundPress your lips together and hum “mmm”, like you just tasted something yummy.
Letter N sound
/n/
N soundPut the tip of your tongue behind your top teeth and hum “nnn” through your nose.
Letter O sound
/o/
Short OOpen your mouth wide like the doctor wants to look inside and say “o, o, o”.
/ō/
Long OThis sound says the letter’s name. Make your lips round and say “oh!” like you are surprised.
Letter P sound
/p/
P soundPress your lips together, then pop them open with a little puff of air, “p, p, p”.
Letter Q sound
/kw/
Q says kwRound your lips like you are about to whistle, then push out a quick “kw”.
Letter R sound
/r/
R says rrrPull your tongue back a little, round your lips and growl “rrr” like a race car.
Letter S sound
/s/
S says sssPut your teeth together, smile a little and let the air hiss out like a snake.
Letter T sound
/t/
T says tTap the tip of your tongue just behind your top teeth and let out a quick puff of air.
Letter U sound
/u/
Short URelax your mouth and make a quick “uh”, like you are pointing up.
/ū/
Long UThis sound says the letter’s name, just like when you sing “U, V, W”.
Letter V sound
/v/
V soundRest your top teeth gently on your bottom lip and turn on your voice to make a buzzy “vvv”.
Letter W sound
/w/
W soundRound your lips like you are about to blow a kiss, then open them as you say “wuh”.
Letter X sound
/ks/
X soundSay a quick “k” and slide right into a hissy “s”, just like the end of fox or box.
Letter Y sound
/y/
Y soundSmile a little, press the middle of your tongue up and say a quick “yuh”.
Letter Z sound
/z/
Z soundPut your teeth close together like you are making an S, then turn on your voice so it buzzes: “zzz”.
Nothing matches that search. Try a single letter like b.
How to practice
Five minutes of sounds a day
Little and often beats long lessons. Here is a simple routine teachers and parents love.
01
Listen first
Tap the word and let your child just listen before they try.
02
Watch the mouth
Say the sound slowly so they can see how your mouth moves.
03
Say it three times
Short and bouncy: b, b, b. Then say the whole word.
04
Go on a hunt
Find two things at home that start with the same sound.
Questions
All FAQs
Letter sound questions
The name is what we call the letter, like 'bee' for B. The sound is what it says in a word, like the /b/ at the start of bear.
Many teachers start with s, a, t, p, i and n because they make lots of short, easy words like sat, pin and tap.
Vowels can say a short sound, like the a in apple, or a long sound that says their name, like the a in ape.
C can sound hard like in cat or soft like in city. G can be hard like in goat or soft like in giraffe.
Pick one letter a day, tap the words to hear them, then play I spy with things around the house.
Most kids start learning letter sounds between 3 and 5. Short, playful practice works better than long lessons.
At the start of a word X often sounds like /z/, as in xylophone. At the end it says /ks/, like in fox.
The words are read by your device's own voice. It works in most modern browsers. Turn up the volume and check silent mode on phones.
Yes. Every letter has a free tracing worksheet and a coloring pack you can print at home or school.
Open that letter's animal page, read a few animal names and see if your child can hear the same first sound.
Ready for a little alphabet adventure?
Start with A, or jump straight to your favorite animal. The crayons are waiting.