The Catalan alphabet consists of twenty-six basic letters. All comparisons to English assume a General American pronunciation.

Letter IPA Name English comparison
A a /a/ or /ə/ a a in father when stressed; a in about otherwise (schwa)
B b /b/, /p/ be or be alta p as in pat the end of the word; b as in ball elsewhere, but softer
C c /k/, /s/ ce c as in ceiling before e or i; k as in skate elsewhere
Ç ç /s/ ce trencada c as in ceiling (not considered a basic letter)
D d /d/, /t/ de t as in tile at the end of the word; th as in there elsewhere
E e /e/, /ɛ/, /ə/ e e as in pencil or ai as in paint when stressed; a as in about otherwise (schwa)
F f /f/ efa f as in feather
G g /g/, /dʒ/ or /ʒ/ ge j as in jacket or s as in measure before e or i; g as in game elsewhere
H h hac silent
I i /i/, /j/ i or i llatina y as in you before vowels; ea as in eat elsewhere
J j /dʒ/ or /ʒ/ jota j as in jacket or s as in measure
K k /k/ ca k as in skate; only used in foreign words
L l /l/ ela l as in bell; always "dark"
M m /m/ ema m as in mother
N n /n/ ena n as in night
O o /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ o o as in phone or o as in pore when stressed; oo as in racoon elsewhere
P p /p/ pe p as in span
Q q /k/ cu k as in skate; always before u/ü
R r /r/, /ɾ/ erra fully trilled word-initially; t in bottle elsewhere
S s /s/, /z/ essa z as in zipper between vowels; s as in sample elsewhere
T t /t/ te t as in star
U u /u/, /w/ u w as in water before vowels; oo as in loot elsewhere
V v /v/ or /b/ ve or ve baixa v as in vine or b as in ball but softer
W w /w/ ve doble w as in water
X x /ʃ/, /ks/ ics or xeix sh as in ship; x as in taxi in some words
Y y i grega Only used in the digraph ny to represent /ɲ/ (roughly like canyon)
Z z /z/ zeta z as in zipper