How many phonemes in the word explain?

Let's break down the word "explain" to count the phonemes:

* e - /eɪ/ (one phoneme, a diphthong)

* x - /ks/ (one phoneme, a digraph representing two sounds)

* p - /p/ (one phoneme)

* l - /l/ (one phoneme)

* a - /eɪ/ (one phoneme, a diphthong)

* i - /n/ (one phoneme)

Therefore, the word "explain" has 6 phonemes.