Alphabet Flashcards – Free Printable Cards, A a to Z z

All 26 cards

A to I 9

A a A is for apple. A vowel. Many fonts print small a with a hood that handwriting leaves off.
B b B is for bed. Small b is a stick, then a ball. It starts the word bed, and d ends it.
C c C is for cat. The name cee gives the soft sound, as in city, not the hard c of cat.
D d D is for dog. Small d is a ball, then a stick. It faces the opposite way from b.
E e E is for egg. A vowel, and the letter English writing uses most.
F f F is for fan. The name ef ends with the sound. Bee, dee and tee start with theirs.
G g G is for goat. The name gee gives the soft sound, as in giant. Small g hangs below the line.
H h H is for hat. The name aitch has no h sound in it, so teach the sound on its own.
I i I is for igloo. A vowel. Capital I can pass for small l, so point to the dot on small i.

Show all 26 cards (17 more)

J to R 9

J j J is for jam. Small j has a dot like i and a tail that hangs below the line.
K k K is for kite. Capital and small k are close twins, but small k keeps a tall stick.
L l L is for leg. Small l is one tall stick, easy to mix up with capital I and the number 1.
M m M is for map. Small m has two humps and n has one. Upside down, m looks like w.
N n N is for net. Small n has one hump. Upside down it looks like u.
O o O is for octopus. A vowel. Capital O, small o and zero are nearly the same round shape.
P p P is for pig. Small p is a stick, then a ball, and the stick hangs below the line.
Q q Q is for queen. Small q is a ball, then a stick below the line. A u nearly always follows q.
R r R is for run. Small r looks nothing like capital R: a short stick with a small hook.

S to Z 8

S s S is for sun. One shape in two sizes. Writing s backwards is normal while children learn.
T t T is for top. Capital T carries its bar on top. Small t is crossed lower down.
U u U is for umbrella. A vowel. Upside down, small u looks like n.
V v V is for van. One pointed shape in two sizes. Round the point and it turns into u.
W w W is for web. Its name, double-u, is the only letter name longer than one syllable.
X x X is for box, where x comes last. Few words start with x: x-ray and xylophone are two.
Y y Y is for yes. The name wy starts with a w sound, not a y sound. Small y hangs below the line.
Z z Z is for zip. Americans call it zee and British English calls it zed. English uses it least.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the key words, the lines under them, the word lists and the sets were written for this site. Facts checked on 2026-09-19. The 26 letters, the 5 vowel letters A, E, I, O and U with W and Y able to act as either, the letter names (cee, ef, gee, aitch, double-u, wy, zee in American English and zed in British English), E as the most used letter and Z as the least used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet. The name double-u, from the time W was written as two of the letter u: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W. x at the start of a word usually said as z, as in xylophone, x at the end of a word said as k plus s, and fewer English words starting with x than with any other letter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X. q almost always followed by u, and Q as the second least used letter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q. The two printed forms of small a (with and without the hood) and of small g (one loop or two), the plain forms being the ones used in handwriting and in type meant for children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G. Mirror writing seen in ordinary children while they learn to write: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_writing. Kindergartners recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters (Common Core RF.K.1d), print many of them (L.K.1a) and print all of them in grade 1 (L.1.1a), read in the CCSSO copy of the standards: https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf. Spellings checked against a standard English word list. The words it lacks were read in Wiktionary: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/box, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/x-ray, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yogurt, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zap, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grapes and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lips. The key words match the single-letter cards of the phonics deck on this site, so a class sees one key word per letter. Licence: own work

How it works

These alphabet flashcards show a capital and its lower-case partner together, from A a to Z z. The back gives a key word, such as apple for A, and one thing to notice about the letter. Six sets split the 26 cards.

Read the full guide

Six sets: three runs, vowels, look-alikes, twins

A to I, J to R and S to Z follow the alphabet in order. Vowels holds A, E, I, O and U. Look-alikes gathers ten letters children swap: b, d, p, q, m, w, n, u, i and l. Twins holds C, O, S, V, W, X and Z, whose small letter is the capital shrunk.

Print all 26 on three sheets

The alphabet cards are printable by set: pick one under Show only, turn a card, then press Print cards. Any set fits one sheet of Letter or A4. The whole alphabet takes three sheets, with two cards on the last. Print double-sided, flipped on the long edge: the backs are mirrored, so apple lands behind A a. One-sided printer? Press Print fold-over cards.

For b and d, write bed. The b stick comes first and the d stick comes last, so the word looks like a bed.
The names aitch, double-u and wy do not contain their letter's sound at all. Teach those three names apart from the sounds.
Your device picks the typeface, so small a may wear a hood and small g two loops. Write the handwritten form beside it.

Questions and answers

Should I teach capital or lower-case letters first?

These cards show both at once, so you need not choose. Common Core expects kindergartners to recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters (RF.K.1d). Most text in a book is lower case, so point to the small letter when you ask.

Do the ABC flashcards have pictures?

No. The back prints the key word in large type, apple for A a, with no drawing. On paper, a child can draw the apple beside it. The 26 key words match the single-letter cards of the phonics deck.

Is the last letter zee or zed?

Both. American English says zee; British and Commonwealth English say zed, and the Z z card gives both. W has the other odd name: double-u, from when it was written as two u's, is the only letter name longer than one syllable.

Alphabet Flashcards with Capital and Lower-Case Letters