follow phonemes. For example, the English words knot, nut, and gnat all share the consonant phonemes and , differing only by their vowel phonemes: , , and , respectively. Similarly, is the notation for a sequence of four phonemes—, , , and —that constitutes the vocalised word pushed.

Sounds that are perceived as phonemes vary by language and by dialect. For example, and are separate phonemes in English as they distinguish words like sin from words like sing ( versus ), but they are a single phoneme in some languages,