Did you know the letter y can act as both a vowel and a consonant? While many of us learned that vowels are a, e, i, o, u , and sometimes y, research and real-word usage tell us something important: y behaves as a vowel far more often than as a consonant. Let’s dive in and explore what that looks like…and how to teach it effectively in literacy instruction.
When y Acts as a Consonant
The letter y functions as a consonant at the beginning of syllables, such as in:
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yoga
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yet
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yum
In these cases, y represents the sound /j/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which is a palatal glide — a consonant sound rather than a vowel.
When Y Acts as a Vowel
Much more often, y serves as a vowel, especially in the middle or at the end of syllables:
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Long E Sound — /i/
In words like candy and baby, y spells the long e sound.
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Long I Sound — /aɪ/
At the end of syllables like cry, y represents the long i sound, which is a diphthong (a vowel that glides between two positions).
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Short I Sound — /ɪ/
In words like gym, y can represent the short i sound in IPA.
A fun way to remember these sounds? Think: cry baby in a gym!
y in Vowel Teams
The letter y also frequently appears as part of vowel teams, two vowels that combine to make a single sound:
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ay → /eɪ/ (as in day, play, say)
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oy → /ɔɪ/ (as in boy, soy)
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ey → /eɪ/ or /i/ (as in they, key)
Learning to recognize these patterns supports decoding and spelling development in young readers.
What Do We Expect Y to Say Most Often?
When we look at frequency data for English words, we see a clear pattern from most frequent to least frequent: y most often spells the long e sound, followed by the long i sound, then the short i sound, and least often functions as a consonant. In other words, y functions as a vowel far more often than as a consonant, making it more accurate to say vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and oftentimes y!
Tools to Help You Teach y (and More!)
To bring these concepts to life in your literacy instruction and practice, consider these Bjorem Literacy® products that bridge speech sounds to print and make phoneme-grapheme connections intuitive and fun:
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Bjorem Better Letters®: Educator Edition – Bridging the Phoneme‑Grapheme Gap A comprehensive deck with 260 cards that connects Bjorem Speech® Sound Cues to letters, spelling patterns, and phonics rules.
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Bjorem Better Letters™ with The Laurie Berkner Band Card Deck A playful card set that integrates music and sound-to-letter learning using familiar songs.
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Better Letters Word Lists and Fluency Sentences in a Book Targeted word lists and sentences organized by grapheme for structured practice and automaticity.
These resources are designed to help clinicians, educators, and caregivers strengthen the speech-to-print connection, making abstract sound concepts like the many roles of y clearer and more concrete for learners.
Final Takeaway
When you see the letter y, what should you expect it to say? Based on frequency and common syllable patterns, it’s much more likely to be a vowel than a consonant.
Integrating evidence-based tools like Better Letters® into your sessions can support deeper phonological and orthographic understanding, helping learners decode and spell with confidence.
