LinguaThe last two letters
y and z close the alphabet. The y is unusual: at the start of a word it works like a consonant (yes), and at the end it works like a vowel (happy, my). The z is the rarest letter in English after x – you meet it in zoo and zero and not much else.
Y is two strokes meeting, then one going down – below the line in the small shape. Z is three strokes: across, down-left, across again.
English also writes some letters twice in a row, and a doubled letter is still one sound: ll in all, ss in miss, ee in see, oo in book. The doubling is not decoration – it usually tells you the vowel before it stays short.
| Written | In the word | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ll | all | every one of them |
| ss | miss | not to hit or not to catch |
| ee | see | to look at with your eyes |
| oo | book | pages you read |
a yellow book
I see you
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yes | yes | Yes, I am. |
| yellow | yellow | A yellow box. |
| zoo | zoo | The zoo is big. |
| book | book | A good book. |
| see | see | I see a tree. |
| all | all | All the eggs. |
| happy | happy | A happy day. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- trace the letter: 3
- multiple choice: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Write the small letter that begins the word zoo.
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.