[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/consonant.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / consonant

[← C](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/C/)

# consonant

«consonant» in Mova's school dictionary: **not a vowel, such as b, c, d, f, g** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a consonant, consonants); adjective (formal: consonant with)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A letter of the alphabet that is not a vowel, such as b, c, d, f, g. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#m1)

2) A speech sound made by partly blocking the air with your lips, tongue or teeth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#m2)

3) (adjective, formal) consonant with: in agreement with. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In phonics and spelling lessons: English has 21 consonant letters and 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u); y can be either. Rules: double the consonant in "running"; use "a" before a consonant sound. Phrases: consonant blend, double consonant, silent consonant.

### examples

- B, c and d are consonants. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x1)
- The word "cat" has two consonants and one vowel. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x2)
- "Running" has a double consonant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x3)
- Use "a" before a consonant sound: a dog, a unicorn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x4)
- The k in "knee" is a silent consonant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x5)
- How many consonants are in "school"? Four: s, c, h, l. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x6)
- "Bl" and "st" are consonant blends. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/#x7)

### note

The a/an rule depends on the sound, not the letter: "a uniform" (y sound), "an hour" (silent h). Y is a consonant in "yes" but acts as a vowel in "gym". Counting: 26 letters minus 5 vowels = 21 consonants.

### In the corpora

- [A consonant before the y: change y to i and add -es (baby, babies; party, parties).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/6-spelling-plurals/5/)
- [Consonant + y changes to -ies (baby, babies); vowel + y just adds -s (day, days).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/6-spelling-plurals/20/)
- [A silent e stays before an ending that starts with a consonant: hope, hopeful; move, movement.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/7-adding-ed-and-ing-doubling-and-dropping-e/19/)
- [Consonant + y changes to i before -ed (cried, tried) but stays before -ing (crying, trying).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/7-adding-ed-and-ing-doubling-and-dropping-e/23/)
- [Consonant + y turns into i: happy, happily, happiness; easy, easily.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/9-suffixes-ous-ly-ful-less-ness-ment/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «consonant» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/consonant/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.