Meaning & use
penultimate letter
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
The letter that comes immediately before the final letter of a word or sequence.
Grammar: Countable; use 'the' before it when you mean a specific word's letter: the penultimate letter of 'stop' is 'o'.
Patterns
- the penultimate letter of something
- the penultimate letter in something
In the word 'cat', the penultimate letter is 'a'.
Please write your name and circle the penultimate letter.
The penultimate letter of the alphabet is Y.
Word forms
| plural | penultimate letters |
|---|
Common combinations
- the penultimate letter of the alphabet
- Y is the penultimate letter of the alphabet.
- the penultimate letter in a word
- Can you identify the penultimate letter in 'house'?
- the penultimate letter of a name
- The penultimate letter of her name is 'i'.
Synonyms and how they differ
- second-to-last letter
- More common in everyday speech; 'penultimate' sounds more formal or technical.
Opposites
Word family
- penultimate adjective
- Meaning 'second from the end'.
- ultimate adjective
- Meaning 'last or final'.
Commonly confused: penultimate letter or ultimate?
penultimate letter vs ultimate
'Ultimate' means the last or final one, while 'penultimate' means the one just before the last. People sometimes mix them up and call the last letter 'penultimate' by mistake.
Practice
What is the penultimate letter of the word 'planet'?
Choose one answer.
The word 'planet' ends with 't', so the letter just before it is 'e'. 't' is the last letter, not the penultimate one.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “penultimate letter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.