Vowel and consonant counter
Count vowels, consonants, letters, numbers and special characters. Results update as you type.
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Vowels and consonants in English
English has 26 letters divided into vowels and consonants. The standard vowels are A, E, I, O, and U. All remaining 21 letters are consonants. The letter Y is a special case — it functions as a vowel in words like "gym", "myth", and "sky" where it makes a vowel sound, but as a consonant in words like "yes" and "yellow" where it makes the Y sound. This tool lets you choose whether to count Y as a vowel or consonant.
Why vowel counting matters
Analyzing vowel distribution is useful in several contexts. Linguists and language learners study vowel patterns to understand phonology. Poets and creative writers analyze sound patterns in their work — vowel-heavy text tends to flow more smoothly while consonant clusters create harder sounds, which is why assonance and alliteration are counted crafts. Word game players including Scrabble enthusiasts track vowel distribution when planning moves. Teachers use vowel counting exercises to help children learn phonics, and cryptography hobbyists compare letter frequencies against normal English when analyzing simple ciphers.
Letter frequency in English
The most common letters in English text in order are E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L, C, U, M, W, F, G, Y, P, B, V, K, J, X, Q, Z. The individual letter frequency table below your text shows how your writing compares to typical English distribution. Text with unusual letter frequencies can appear in encoded messages, constrained writing exercises, or specialized technical content.
Frequently asked questions
Is Y a vowel or a consonant?
Both, depending on the word — which is why teachers say "A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y". Y works as a vowel when it makes a vowel sound: "gym", "myth", "sky" and "happy" all use Y as their only or final vowel sound. It works as a consonant at the start of a syllable, as in "yes", "yellow" and "beyond". Because there is no single right answer, this tool gives you a "Count Y as a vowel" toggle so the count matches whichever convention your exercise or puzzle expects.
Are there English words with no vowels at all?
If Y counts as a vowel, almost none — words like "rhythm", "myth", "gym" and "hymn" all lean on Y for their vowel sound. Without Y, the list shrinks to rare borrowings such as "cwm" (a Welsh word for a mountain hollow, valid in Scrabble) and "crwth" (a Welsh stringed instrument), plus interjections like "shh" and "hmm". Try pasting them into the counter with the Y toggle on and off to see how the classification changes the result.
Which English words have the most vowels?
"Queueing" is the classic answer, with five consecutive vowels. "Facetious" and "abstemious" contain all five standard vowels exactly once — in alphabetical order. Add Y and "facetiously" manages all six. At the extreme end, "euouae" (a medieval musical term) is the longest English word made entirely of vowels and holds the Guinness record for consecutive vowels. Words like these make good test inputs for exploring how the counter and the letter-frequency table behave.
Does the counter treat uppercase and lowercase letters the same?
Yes. Counting is case-insensitive: A and a both register as vowels, B and b both as consonants, so shouting text and normal text give identical results. Characters that are not letters at all — digits, punctuation, spaces and emojis — are counted separately as non-letter characters, which keeps the vowel and consonant percentages meaningful for mixed content like addresses or code snippets.
What percentage of letters are typically vowels in English text?
Around 38 to 40 percent of the letters in ordinary English prose are vowels. E is the single most common letter in the language, followed by T, A, O and I — a distribution so reliable that codebreakers have used it since the 9th century to crack substitution ciphers. If your text deviates far from that range it will sound noticeably different read aloud: vowel-rich text flows softly, while consonant-heavy text sounds clipped and dense.