Phonetic Alphabet

The spoken alphabet has a lotta' sounds that are much the same. For example, when you say E, or C, or B, or D, or T... (get the picture?). These letters have the same type of sound (...I know I missed G and P and V!).

Anyway, it's a lot better to give a word that replaces the letter and can't be confused.

It's important to learn these words...they're used in SEMAPHORE, radio communications...in fact anytime we want to be really sure that there are no mistakes

So here they are...be sure to practice and memorize them!

  • ALFA
  • BRAVO
  • CHARLIE
  • DELTA
  • ECHO
  • FOXTROT
  • GOLF
  • HOTEL
  • INDIA
  • JULIET
  • KILO
  • LIMA
  • MIKE
  • NOVEMBER
  • OSCAR
  • PAPA
  • QUEBEC
  • ROMEO
  • SIERRA
  • TANGO
  • UNIFORM
  • VICTOR
  • WHISKEY
  • XRAY
  • YANKEE
  • ZULU

And by the way the correct spelling of A, phonetically, is ALFA , not ALPHA, to avoid confusion of mis-pronouncing in other languages (i.e. saying ALP-HA)! See above.

Some fun ways to practice!

(A) Try answering these questions in phonetic alphabet!

  1. How many words are the names of people? (6)
  2. How many are dances? (2)
  3. How many are countries or provinces? (2)
  4. How many are types of people? (2)
  5. Which 2 are holiday words...i.e., some people travel and stay at this kind of place, to play this kind of game!
  6. Which 2 words could be 1000 grams of beans?
  7. ...and what 2 words are in love with each other?

(B) Next: How many times can you go through the Phonetic Alphabet in ONE minute? Time yourself and see if you can beat your friends!

(C) Do you know the song that starts "A B C D, E F G...H I J K...LMNOP..." and ends "now I've said my ABC's..."? Here's a real challenge...try to sing the song in phonetic alphabet. End the song with "Now I've said my ABC's...I hope the Navy League is pleased!!" Can you do it?

Go back to the Navy League Home Page.