Vowels and Consonants for Linking

To understand linking, it is important to know the difference between vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Here is a table of English vowels and consonants:

vowels a   e   i   o   u  
consonants   b c d   f g h   j k l m n   p q r s t   v w x y z

The table shows the letters that are vowels and consonants. But the important thing in linking is the sound, not the letter. Often the letter and the sound are the same, but not always.

For example, the word pay ends with:

  • the consonant letter y
  • the vowel sound a

Here are some more examples:

  though know
ends with the letter h w
ends with the sound o o
  uniform honest
begins with the letter u h
begins with the sound y o