The alphabet & spelling

Rules

• Rule 1: Letter names

  Every letter has a name. The vowels are important: A “ay”, E “ee”, I “eye”, O “oh”, U “you”.

  Pattern: A “ay” · E “ee” · I “eye” · O “oh” · U “you”

  Example: The letter I sounds like “eye”.

  Example: The letter U sounds like “you”.

• Rule 2: How do you spell…?

  To ask how a word is written, say How do you spell…? Answer by saying the letters one by one. English words are often not written the way they sound, so people ask this a lot!

  Pattern: How do you spell + word? — Letter-letter-letter.

  Example: How do you spell “cake”? — C-A-K-E.

  Example: Can you spell it, please?

• Rule 3: Capital letters

  Use a capital letter for people's names, cities and countries, the first word of a sentence and the word I.

  Pattern: Elif · Türkiye · I am happy.

  Example: Can and I are from Ankara.

  Example: My cat is white.

• Rule 4: The first sound and a / an

  If a word starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u), use an. Otherwise use a. It makes the words easier to say.

  Pattern: an + vowel sound · a + other sounds

  Example: an orange, an egg

  Example: a banana, a yellow bag

Common mistakes

• i like cats. → I like cats.

  The word I is always a capital letter.

• my friend is leo. → My friend is Leo.

  The first word of a sentence and names start with a capital.

• a apple → an apple

  “apple” starts with a vowel sound → an.