Letter Sounds

• Every letter of the alphabet has its own sound.
• Words begin and end with letter sounds we can hear and name.
• Vowels — a, e, i, o, u — appear inside almost every word.
• Listening for the first and last sound helps with spelling and reading.

Level 1 — Core idea

Verbal: Say a word slowly — 'c-a-t' — and notice the first sound is 'c'.

Symbolic: cat → begins with c; sun → begins with s.

Visual: Table: apple = A, ball = B, cat = C ... each letter has a matching picture word.

Level 2 — Going deeper

The last sound of a word matters too: bed ends in d, cap ends in p. Vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are the letters found in every word — count them to check spelling.

NCERT anchor

NCERT Class 3 English picture-word activities ask learners to match pictures with beginning letters.

Which letter does 'elephant' begin with?

Step 1 — Say the word slowly: e-le-phant
Step 2 — First sound = e
Step 3 — Answer: E ✓

How many vowels are in 'banana'?

Step 1 — Spell it out: b-a-n-a-n-a
Step 2 — Vowel letters: a, a, a = 3
Step 3 — Answer: 3 ✓

• Which letter does 'mango' begin with?
• Which letter does 'bus' end with?
• How many vowels are in 'orange'?
• Stretch: Find two words that begin with the same letter as your name.

Revision tip: Say the word slowly, sound by sound, before answering.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Letter Sounds.