# Consonants All Around

- Link: https://thecuriosi.com/lessons/consonants-all-around/
- Published: 2026-10-31T14:54:19+05:30
- Author: MAHENDRA MANCHIKALAPATI

1. [Courses](https://thecuriosi.com/courses/)
 2. [Alphabet Adventures: Letters and Sounds](https://thecuriosi.com/courses/alphabet-letters-and-sounds/)
 3.  Lesson 5 of 8

In the last lesson you met the five vowels. Now let’s meet the rest of the alphabet:
the **consonants**. There are many more consonants than vowels, and they help give
every word its shape.

## What is a consonant?

A consonant is any letter that is **not** a vowel. Remember the vowels: a, e, i,
o, u. All the other letters are consonants.

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

That makes 21 consonants. (Remember, y is a consonant most of the time, like in 
_yellow_.)

### Consonants and vowels work together

Most words have both. In _dog_, the d and g are consonants and the o is a vowel.
In _map_, the m and p are consonants and the a is a vowel.

## Beginning and ending sounds

Consonants are often at the start and end of short words. Listen carefully to both
ends.

  |  Word |  Beginning sound |  Ending sound |  
   |  bat |  /b/ |  /t/ |  
 |  sun |  /s/ |  /n/ |  
 |  leg |  /l/ |  /g/ |  
 |  cup |  /k/ |  /p/ |  
 |  fox |  /f/ |  /ks/ |

### Stretch the word

To hear every sound, stretch the word like a rubber band. Say _s-u-n_ very slowly.
Then snap it back together: _sun_!

## Sound buddies

Some consonants like to team up and make one new sound. You will learn more about
these later, but here are two fun ones:

 * **sh** says /sh/, like _ship_ and _fish_ (the “be quiet” sound)
 * **ch** says /ch/, like _chip_ and _lunch_ (the train sound “choo choo”)

### Example

Zara was eating lunch. She said, “Lunch ends with the train sound, /ch/!” Then she
found _chips_ on her plate. “Chips starts with /ch/ too!”

## Key takeaways

 * Consonants are all the letters that are not vowels.
 * There are 21 consonants in the English alphabet.
 * Short words often have consonants at the beginning and end.
 * Some consonants team up, like sh and ch.

## Practice

Say each word slowly. Tell a grown-up the **ending** sound: **cat, ball, bed, frog,
bus**.

Answers: cat ends with /t/, ball with /l/, bed with /d/, frog with /g/, and bus 
with /s/.

 [Log in](https://thecuriosi.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fthecuriosi.com%2Flessons%2Fconsonants-all-around%2F)
to mark lessons complete and track your progress.

 [ Previous lesson Vowels: A, E, I, O, U ](https://thecuriosi.com/lessons/vowels-a-e-i-o-u/)
[ Next lesson Beginning Sounds Detective ](https://thecuriosi.com/lessons/beginning-sounds-detective/)

 [Back to course overview](https://thecuriosi.com/courses/alphabet-letters-and-sounds/)

Share this