Consonant and vowel are essential to the English language. Without them, we won’t be able to create words! But what are they, and how can you tell them apart? Well, vowels are the letters in the alphabet that produce open sounds, whereas consonants form closed or partially closed sounds – and that’s just one of the many differences between the two! Read on to learn more about vowels and consonants.
Related:
- Double Consonant Words: What Are They and Spelling Rules to Follow
- Literary Devices: What Are They and 38 Common Types (With Examples)
- Mastering Syllables: What Is a Syllable?
What Are Consonants?
Out of the 26 letters in the English alphabet, did you know that 21 of them are consonants? They are b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z. So, what is a consonant?
Fun Fact: Consonants are often seen in the literary device consonance and are crucial in poetry and music lyrics.
As mentioned earlier, consonants produce closed or partially closed sounds – you have to use your tongue, lips, and throat.
For example, if you want to pronounce the letter T, you have to place your tongue behind your upper front teeth. But for the letter M, you’ll need to close your lips together.
Tip: If you have heard of the term “sometimes consonants,” that just means a consonant (like the letter Y) can have a vowel and consonant sound.
Let’s take a closer look at the consonants below:
Consonant Digraphs
If you have two consonants next to each other and they create a single sound, that’s what you call a consonant digraph. Keep in mind that consonant digraphs are different than consonant blends. Here are some examples.
| Digraphs | Examples |
| ch | chip, cheese, chair, |
| gh | laugh, rough, tough, |
| ng | ring, thing, king, |
| nk | think, blink, ink, |
| sh | shine, sheep, show, |
| wh | whale, what, whip, |
| th | this, that, than, |
| ck | back, snack, neck, |
| kn | know, knife, knock, |
| qu | queen, quite, quit, |
| ph | phone, graphic, dolphin, |
Consonant Blends
Speaking of consonant blends (or consonant clusters), they refer to two consonants that are also next to each other. However, in consonant blends, each consonant retains its sound, blending to create syllables.
Confused? You can check the list of consonant blend examples below.
| Blends | Examples |
| L-blends | blanked, cloud, fly, plane, glass, slow |
| S-blends | sweet, skate, smell, spoon, scoop, snore |
| R-blends | pride, gray, write, brown, crow, dry, frost, trap |
| Consonant Clusters | Examples |
| str | string, strange |
| sks | tasks, sixty, |
| ksts | texts |
| mpst | glimpsed |
What Are Vowels?
If consonants take up 21 letters of the alphabet, what about vowels? Vowels are only five letters: a, e, i, o, and u.
Tip: The letter Y can also become a vowel when the word doesn’t have a, e, i, o, and u. Other instances wherein the letter Y can function as a vowel is when it’s the last letter of the word or if it appears in between two consonants.
Unlike consonants, when you pronounce vowels, there is no obstruction; the air comes out of the mouth. For instance, if you pronounce the letter A, you have to open your mouth and let the air out.
Monophthongs
A monophthong has a pure vowel sound without the restriction of air and has only one vowel sound in a syllable.
| Monophthongs sound | Examples |
| /ɪ/ | sit, fit, lift |
| /ʊ/ | boot, groot, food |
| /e/ | bed, bet, left |
| /ə/ | letter, better, setter |
| /æ/ | rat, craft, hat |
| /ʌ/ | bus, dust, |
| /ɒ/ | pot, hot |
| /a:/ | calm, palm, balm |
| /u:/ | cool, fool, tool |
| /i:/ | leap, feat, beat |
| /3:/ | turn, burn, |
| /ɔ:/ | all, ball, fall |
Diphthongs
A diphthong is a sound formed by two vowels next to each other. The sound starts with one vowel and then goes to the second one.
Tip: Not all two adjacent vowels are diphthongs. For instance, the word “tooth” is technically a monophthong because the two O’s represent a long “oo” sound.
| Diphthongs sound | Examples |
| /eɪ/ | late, gate, |
| /ɪə/ | dear, fear, |
| /eə/ | fair, care |
| /ʊə/ | sure, cure |
| /əʊ/ | globe, show, |
| /ɔɪ/ | join, coin |
| /aɪ/ | time, rhyme |
| /aʊ/ | cow, how |
Long and Short Vowels
You’ll also come across vowels with either long or short sounds. For long vowel sounds, you’ll notice that you are just saying the letter name out loud. For instance, “cake.”
But in short vowel sounds (like in the words “mats,” “pit,” “cat,” and “clap”), the vowel sounds different, and as the term’s name suggests, shorter to pronounce.
| Vowel | Long Vowel Examples | Short Vowel Examples |
| /a/ | baby, make, | cat, apple, |
| /e/ | me, we, | hen, egg, |
| /i/ | lion, ice, | ink, ring, |
| /o/ | cold, go, | log, fox, |
| /u/ | music, unicorn, | ulcer, bug, |
The sound of the vowels will also be different depending on their position in the word and the letters that surround it.
| When a word has only one vowel, ending with a consonant | Short sound | “a” in jam |
| When a word has two vowels apart by two or more letters | First vowel makes a short sound | octopus |
| When a word ends with ‘e’ | First vowel makes a long sound | game |
| When a word has two vowels together the first one has the pronunciation | First vowel makes a long sound, and the second vowel remains silent | rain |
Fun Fact: If you’re wondering how many sounds or phonemes there are in the English language, it’s 44 = 20 for vowels and 24 consonants!
Consonants and Vowels: What’s the Difference?
Now that we’ve reviewed the definitions and examples of a consonant and vowel, let’s examine their differences.
- Consonants take up most letters of the English alphabet (there are 21 consonants!). When you pronounce a consonant, you are either blocking or partially restricting airflow with your lips or throat or by using your tongue to touch the palate.
- For vowels, air should flow freely outside your mouth. There shouldn’t be any part of the mouth restricting and blocking the flow of air. Unlike a consonant, you only have five vowels.
