c, j, g, ŭ

C, J, G and Ŭ

Foundations

Four letters whose sounds differ from English.

How It Works

These four letters look like English letters but sound different.

Letter	Sound	Example
c	ts in cats	cent (hundred)
j	y in yes	jes (yes)
g	g in go, never j	granda (big)
ŭ	a very short u	aŭ (or)

Ŭ is half a vowel. In ordinary words it comes only after a or e, in aŭ and eŭ, as in aŭto (car) and Eŭropo (Europe). After a consonant Esperanto uses v, never ŭ. In kvar (four) and akvo (water) you hear a k and then a clear v.

Keep j and ĵ apart. J is a short y sound. Ĵ is the sound in measure.

Examples (4)

Ana havas cent librojn.
Ana has a hundred books.
C in cent sounds like the ts in cats.
Jes, Kenji parolas Esperanton.
Yes, Kenji speaks Esperanto.
J in jes sounds like y in yes.
La domo de Kofi estas granda.
Kofi's house is big.
G in granda is hard, as in go.
Eŭropo estas granda.
Europe is big.
Ŭ follows e and is very short.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

c, j, g, ŭFoundationsC, J, G and Ŭ

Learn This First

These letters sound different from English, so they are best met next to the hat letters they are often mixed up with.

Letters ĉ, ĝ, ĵ and ŝThe Letters Ĉ, Ĝ, Ĵ and Ŝ
Know the hat letters, since c, g and j are the plain partners of ĉ, ĝ and ĵ: c sounds like ts, but ĉ sounds like ch.
Foundations

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Typing ĉ ĝ ĥ ĵ ŝ ŭTyping the Six LettersFoundations

Practice c, j, g, ŭ in Bubblegum

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