alphabet

alphabet — noun

1. all the letters that a language uses to write its words, listed in a standard or

1.名詞B1
釋義

all the letters that a language uses to write its words, listed in a standard order such as A, B, C through Z in English.

例句

Xander taught her little brother to sing the English alphabet from A to Z.

the [language] alphabet

The Greek alphabet has twenty-four letters, beginning with alpha and ending with omega.

the [language] alphabet + has [number] letters

同義詞
  • ABCs

    informal, especially when talking about young children learning letters

  • letters

    refers to individual symbols, not the ordered set as a whole

文法句型

the [language] alphabet

用法筆記

Almost always preceded by 'the' (the alphabet) or by a language adjective (the Greek alphabet, the Arabic alphabet). When talking about ordering things by letter, the related adverb 'alphabetically' is more common than this noun.

常見錯誤

❌I learned alphabet at school.
✅I learned the alphabet at school.
💡needs the article 'the' before 'alphabet'.
❌English has 26 alphabets.
✅The English alphabet has 26 letters.
💡one language uses one alphabet; the individual symbols are 'letters'.

2. the simplest and most basic ideas or skills that someone must learn before they

2.名詞C1
釋義

the simplest and most basic ideas or skills that someone must learn before they can understand a particular subject — for example, knowing what a chord is before studying jazz, or how to hold a brush before painting.

例句

Reading sheet music is part of the alphabet of classical piano training.

the alphabet of [subject]

Professor Lin says that supply and demand are the alphabet of every economics course.

X is the alphabet of Y

同義詞
  • basics

    more common in everyday speech; less literary

  • fundamentals

    neutral and widely used in academic contexts

  • rudiments

    formal, often paired with 'master' or 'grasp'

反義詞

文法句型

the alphabet of [subject]

用法筆記

Distinct from sense 1: this sense is figurative and almost always appears in the singular pattern 'the alphabet of [subject]'. Subject is typically an academic field, craft, or skill. Distinguish from sibling sense 1 (WRITING LETTERS), which is literal and physical.

常見錯誤

❌Beginners must learn the alphabets of cooking.
✅Beginners must learn the alphabet of cooking.
💡this figurative sense is singular and uncountable in practice.