Beginning Consonant

What Are Beginning Consonants?

• A beginning consonant is when a word starts with any letter that is NOT A, E, I, O, or U.
• Most words in the English language start with a consonant.
• These letters give the word a "hard" or "crisp" start (Example: B-B-B-Bat).

How to Spot a Beginning Consonant To find a beginning consonant, look at the very first letter of the whole word:

1. Look at the word: T I G E R.
2. Check the first letter: T.
3. Is it a vowel (A, E, I, O, U)? No.
4. This means T is a Beginning Consonant.

Beginning Consonant Examples Here are words where a consonant leads the way, grouped by their sound:

• B: Ball, Boy, Bus.
• C: Cat, Cup, Cake.
• M: Moon, Milk, Mat.
• S: Sun, Star, Sock.
• Z: Zoo, Zebra, Zip.

The "A" vs. "AN" Rule When a word starts with a consonant sound, we use the word "A" before it:

• A Dog (D is a consonant).
• A Book (B is a consonant).
• A Pen (P is a consonant).
• Rule: If the first letter is a consonant, use "A" to keep the sentence easy to say.

Why Do We Learn This?

• Reading: It helps us recognize the "starter" sound so we can blend the rest of the word.
• Writing: It helps us organize words in alphabetical order (ABC order).
• Grammar: It teaches us when to use "A" instead of "An" in our stories.

Lesson Summary

• Beginning consonants are letters like B, C, D, F, G... at the start of a word.
• There are 21 different consonants that can start a word.
• We use the word "A" before words that start with a beginning consonant.