Find the Consonants

What Are Consonants?

• Out of the 26 letters in the alphabet, 21 are called Consonants.
• A consonant is any letter that is NOT a vowel (A, E, I, O, U).
• While vowels are the "glue," consonants are the "skeleton" or the frame that gives a word its shape.

The Consonant Group The consonant family is very large. It includes these letters:

• B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.
• Most words start and end with a consonant sound (Example: Bear, Dog, Sun).

How to Find Consonants in a Word To find the consonants, we look at the whole word and remove the vowels

1. Write the word (Example: F R O G).
2. Spot the vowels (A, E, I, O, U). In this word, O is a vowel.
3. Every other letter left behind is a consonant: F, R, and G.

Consonants in Action See how consonants build the frame for these whole words:

• L A M P: The consonants are L, M, and P.
• D E S K: The consonants are D, S, and K.
• T R U C K: The consonants are T, R, C, and K.
• S K Y: In this word, every letter (S, K, Y) acts as a consonant!

Lesson Summary

• There are 21 consonants in the alphabet.
• If a letter is not A, E, I, O, or U, it is a consonant.
• Consonants provide the structure for almost every word we read.