What are vowels and consonants?
Words are built from letters which are either vowels or consonants.
Vowels are:
a, e, i, o, u
Consonants are the rest of the letters in the alphabet:
b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y and z
The letter 'y' is a bit different, because sometimes it acts as a consonant and sometimes it acts as a vowel.
Knowing how vowels and consonants work together to make words and sounds will help you with your spelling.
Watch: Vowels and consonants
Learn about vowels and consonants with this video from ±«Óătv Bitesize.
NARRATOR: You've eaten the alphabet again haven't you?
The red monster burps loudly.
NARRATOR: Give him a hand, start with the vowels.
The blue monster puts its foot on the red monster to hold open his mouth while he pulls pout his tongue along with the vowels 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'.
NARRATOR: Vowels are the letters you can sound out without closing your mouth.
The red monster sounds out the vowels 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'.
NARRATOR: Ah, eh, ii, ohh and uhh. Every word needs one. All the other letters are called consonants, and there's quite a lot of them.
Blue monster pulls out even more tongue with all the consonants attached while red monster does a long burp. A green monster pops out of red monster's mouth holding up the letter 'y'.
NARRATOR: 'Y' is a bit unusual, because sometimes it acts as a consonant in a word, and sometimes it acts as a vowel.
The letter 'y' changes colour from red, like the consonants, to blue, like the vowels. The green monster lowers it down.
NARRATOR: Right, come on, it's time for tea.
*The red monster lifts the letter 't' and eats it.
NARRATOR: No, I… ohh, I should have seen that coming.
The blue monster laughs.
Ends.
Activity 1
Activity 2
Imagine you are making alphabet soup.
Have a look at the recipes below. How many vowels and consonants are there in each one?
You can say the answers or write them down.
The first one has been done for you.
- a, d, o, w
There are two vowels ( a, o) two consonants (d, w).
b e i s
e h n z
k r t v
a e i o u
Activity 3
Read the words in the lists below. They all contain a vowel.
Write the words down and circle the vowel.
- cat
- dog
- pin
- bun
- pen
- lip
- man
- web
- hut
- box
Activity 4
Here are the names of some fruits.
They all include at least one vowel. Some include more than one vowel.
apple
banana
grape
peach
plum
strawberry
lemon
lime
pineapple
fig
melon
cherry
guava
lychee
orange
Copy out the table below and write each word in the correct box to show how many vowels it contains.
A row has been done for you. Have fun sorting!
| Fruits with one vowel | Fruits with two vowels | Fruits with three or more vowels |
|---|---|---|
| plum | grape | orange |
Challenge: Why don’t you try to do the same with drinks, animals or different types of transport?
Share your answers with a friend or family member – can they think of some more?
Karate Cats English game. game
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