Phonetic Alphabet
Combined with differing accents and bad phone lines, some letters and numbers can sound very similar when spoken, so how do you make sure they are not misinterpretted?
The best thing you can do is use a
phonetic alphabet to spell out words letter by letter. You may well already use this alphabet as it has started to merge into common language.
There are a number of phonetic alphabets generated over time and for specialist purposes, but the most widely used is the one created by NATO.
This alphabet is also known as the
International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, the
ICAO phonetic, the
ICAO spelling alphabet or the
ITU phonetic alphabet.
Below you will find all the
letters and
numbers you need and also how to pronounce them properly.
| Letter |
Written Word |
How To Say It |
| A | Alpha | Al-fah |
| B | Bravo | Brah-voh |
| C | Charlie | Char-lee |
| D | Delta | Dell-tah |
| E | Echo | Eck-oh |
| F | Foxtrot | Foks-trot |
| G | Golf | Golf |
| H | Hotel | Hoh-tel |
| I | India | In-dee-ah |
| J | Juliet | Jew-lee-et |
| K | Kilo | Key-loh |
| L | Lima | Lee-mah |
| M | Mike | Mike |
| N | November | No-vem-ber |
| O | Oscar | Oss-car |
| P | Papa | Pah-pah |
| Q | Quebec | Keh-beck |
| R | Romeo | Row-me-oh |
| S | Sierra | See-air-rah |
| T | Tango | Tang-go |
| U | Uniform | Yoo-nih-form |
| V | Victor | Vik-tore |
| W | Whiskey | Wiss-key |
| X | Xray | Ecks-ray |
| Y | Yankee | Yang-key |
| Z | Zulu | Zoo-loo |
| 0 | Zero | Zee-ro |
| 1 | One | Wun |
| 2 | Two | Too |
| 3 | Three | Tree |
| 4 | Four | Fow-er |
| 5 | Five | Fife |
| 6 | Six | six |
| 7 | Seven | Sev-en |
| 8 | Eight | Ait |
| 9 | Nine | Nin-er |
| 100 | Hundred | Hun-dred |
| 1000 | Thousand | Tou-sand |