The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. These letters range from A to Z, and each letter has both an uppercase and lowercase form. The alphabet includes 5 traditional vowels (A, E, I, O, U) with Y sometimes acting as a vowel or consonant, and 21 consonants. The modern English alphabet has been standardized with 26 letters since the 16th century, when J, U, and W were added to the previous 23 letters from Old English.