F (letter)
F, f is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the sixth letter of most variants of the Latin alphabet, being placed after E and before G: for instance it is the case in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈef], that is eff.
Use in English
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
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f is a labiodental fricative, air being pushed through the upper teeth and lower lip. It is an unvoiced v: feŵ and vieŵ are a minimal pair.
Further examples: (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English phonemes): fún, féather, férry, fîght, forty, fífty, fílth, fíckle, fád, flóp, frét, físt, óff, óften (*offen), fát, fïrst, déaf, friénd.
It likes to double itself at the end of words, after a single vowel letter: óff, stúff, clíff, whíff, múff, though not always: íf, óf (*ov), déaf (two vowel letters). And also in the middle of words: ráffle, óffer, íffy, báffle, éffort, Clífford, múffle, stúffing, stúffed.
f begins consonant clusters: Áfghan, aflôat, frîght, shíft.
The f sound, however, is spelt ph in many words from Greek: epíphany, Dáphne, grāph, élephant; however, Stêphen is pronounced exactly like its variant spelling Stêven.
In some words the f sound is written gh: enoúgh, tróugh.