Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language that can change the meaning of a word. For example, changing the sound of a single phoneme in the word “bat” can turn it into “cat.” This is similar but somewhat different from phonics. When learning how to read, phonics helps us to understand the sounds that a letter or group of letters makes. However, first we need to learn the possible sounds that appear in the English language. There are 44 phonemes (sounds) in the English language, but this might vary depending on the dialect. For example, the phonemes /ɒ/, /ɪə/, /ʊə/, and /eə/ are more common in British English than American English. Despite differences in dialect, consistency in pronunciation is important because changing a phoneme can change the meaning of the word. If any of these 44 Engish phonemes are not in your native language, it will take a little more practice to become familiar with them.

Here are some examples of words with each of the English phonemes. All of the following pronunciations are American English except where noted otherwise.

/iː/ – as in eat
/ɪ/ – as in in
/ʊ/ – as in book
/uː/ – as in blue

/e/ – as in red
/ə/ – as in about (known as the schwa sound)
/ɜː/ – as in her
/ɔː/ – as in saw

/æ/ – as in cat
/ʌ/ – as in up
/ɑː/ – as in father
/ɒ/ – as in on (British pronunciation)

/ɪə/ – as in hear (British pronunciation)
/eɪ/ – as in say
/ʊə/ – as in sure (British pronunciation)
/ɔɪ/ – as in boy
/əʊ/ – as in go
/eə/ – as air (British pronunciation)
/aɪ/ – as in my
/aʊ/ – as in now

/p/ – as in pen
/b/ – as in bag
/t/ – as in ten
/d/ – as in dog
/tʃ/ – as in chair
/dʒ/ – as in jump
/k/ – as in key
/g/ – as in go

/f/ – as in fun
/v/ – as in van
/θ/ – as in think
/ð/ – as in this
/s/ – as in sun
/z/ – as in zoo
/ʃ/ – as in shoe
/ʒ/ – as in measure

/m/ – as in man
/n/ – as in no
/ŋ/ – as in sing
/l/ – as in leg
/h/ – as in hat
/r/ – as in red
/w/ – as in we
/j/ – as in yes