Here are some ways to approach it:
* The basic English alphabet: There are 26 letters in the English alphabet (A-Z).
* Including uppercase and lowercase: There are 52 letters in the English alphabet (A-Z and a-z).
* Adding punctuation: There are about 33 punctuation marks commonly used in English.
* Adding numbers: We can add 10 digits (0-9).
* Special symbols: There are many special symbols used in English, but their number can vary depending on how you define "special symbol".
Therefore, it's not possible to give a single, definitive answer to the question.
However, we can say that the English language utilizes a vast number of characters, including letters, punctuation marks, numbers, and special symbols.