Is the letter "Y" a vowel?

The letter “Y” (as I’m sure you really know) is NOT one of the FIVE vowels in the English language.

However, it plays a part in the construction of diphthongs which give a vowel sound as though two vowels are joined together.

For example, “OY” as in boy or toy, or “EY” in monkey which sounds as though two letter E’s are conjoined.

Your question is valid, but it is a point that most people do not think about the value of “Y” in the English language and it’s enhancement effect on the five vowels.

It can however substitute for a vowel at times, which is where confusion can occur.

English school reference books will often state that “every word contains a vowel”.

Mostly, it is this phrase that is remembered, but “Y” can substitute and break this rule.

For example, there is no actual vowel in words such as “dry”, “fry”, “my”, “shy”, to name just a few.

If as I suspect, English is not your first language, you should be aware that it has these little inconsistencies in it.

And you should not listen to the ranting of some of these other respondents.

There are many people who supposedly speak English, both in the UK and the USA, who are incapable of stringing more than four words together to make a readable sentence.

Y, or y, is the 25th and penultimate letter of the ISO basic Latin alphabet and the sixth vowel letter of the modern English alphabet. In the English writing system, it mostly represents a vowel and seldom a consonant, and in other orthographies it may represent a vowel or a consonant.

Other letters commonly used with: y(x), ly, ny

Language of origin: Latin language

Writing system: Latin script

A - E - I - O - U --- and sometimes Y!  

I learned that when I learned my ABC's.

Sometimes. Learned that back in Grade 1

mostly, other times a consonant

in the English language, yes it is

Yes it is.  A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y.  Like Dry.  Every word has, at least, one vowel in it.

I was taught that it is, but only because 'y' is a substitute for 'i.'

'Y', is considered a consonant when it starts a word or syllable. Example: lawyer, yard, beyond.

Vowels are defined by the sounds which they represent.  If y represents a vowel sound, then it is a vowel, if it represents a consonant then it is a consonant.  Letters are just written symbols, and many of them serve several different purposes.  

Sometimes it is, "rhythm" is one case.. Then we have shy, fly my and fry, then there's gym hymn and myth etc. Those are some that only use Y.