Aa [car] | Bb [book]/ [vote]* | Cc* [cart]/ [ceiling] | Dd [door] | Ee [stem] |
Ff [focus] | Gg [good] | Hh* No sound | Ii [knee] | Jj* [hat] |
Kk [key] | Ll* [love]* | LL ll [your] | Mm [much] | Nn [name] |
Ññ* [canyon] | Oo [boring] | Pp [post] | Qq [quality] | Rr* [ring] |
RR rr* [arrogant] | Ss [soon] | Tt [take] | Uu [rule] | Vv* [vote]/ [book] |
Ww [vote] | Xx [matrix] | Yy [your] | Zz* [theater]/ [soon] | Ch ch [chapter] |
As you can see, Spanish alphabet is almost the same as English and most sounds are also the same. However, there are nuances with some letters that are marked by *:
- LL (double L) and Y are pronounced as Y in Y
- Y is pronounced like English Y in [YEAR]. But only in the single-letter word Y – and, consisting from itself is pronounced as EE in [meet].
- G: before a/o/u is pronounced G as in G Before i/e it is pronounced as H in [hat].
- J is pronounced as H in [hat]. Also, J can be used instead of G when in process of conjugation one must place a/o/u after softened G. For example:
Escoger – to choose, pronounced as [eskoher]
Yo escojo – I choose, pronounced as [eskoho]
- Ñ is soft N. Pronounced as NY in [canyon].
- H doesn’t have a sound. This letter is called “Ache”. For example, the word Hablar – to speak is pronounced as [ablar], and the word Hijo – son is pronounced as [eeho].
- C before a/o/u sounds like C in [club], but before i/e sounds like CE in [ceiling], as well as in English.
- Z has different sounds in Spain and Latin America. In Spain Z sounds like TH in [theater], and in Latil America sounds like S in [soon]. Also, Z is used instead of C before e/i when in process of conjugation one must place a/o/u after. For example:
Yo hice – I did
Él hizo – He did
- U is pronounced as U in [rule] or OO in [zoom]
- U in QU, CU, GU doesn’t have a sound. It is used after G, C to keep the sound hard from softening letters i/e. For example, in the word Guitarra U is used to keep sound G, because without U this word would sound as “hitarra”.
- Ü is pronounced as usual OO in ZOO Used in QÜ, CÜ, GÜ when there must be the sound U instead of a diphthong. Example: Vergüenza – shame
- Qu – equivalent of C except before a/o/u. Used instead of C when in process of conjugation one must place i/e after C. Example:
Yo toco la guitarra – I play guitar, pronounced [toko]
Yo toqué la guitarra – I played guitar, pronounced [toké]
- R – is pronounced as R in English, but with a slight lingual flap.
- RR – is pronounced as strong rolled R.
- K, W – equivalents of C, V, they are used only in loan words.
- Ch equals English CH as in CH
- B and V don’t have a difference in pronunciation. Spanish speakers pronounce these sounds either as B or as V depending on local accent, or as a sound between both of these letters.
Stressed syllables in Spanish language
If a word ends on a vowel and on the consonants N, S – the accent is on the penultimate syllable, e.g. ESTABAN, if a word ends on a consonant apart from N, S – the accent is on the last syllable, e.g. NACIONAL.
If the accent doesn’t fit these rules – there must be an accent mark above, e.g. ESTÁ.
Also, the accent mark is written in some words to distinguish their meaning: SÍ – yes, SI – if, QUÉ – what, QUE – than, that, ÉL – he, EL – definite article, and others.
Read these words now and build sentences with them after the next lesson:
Gracias – thanks [grásias] Hola – hello [óla] Humano – human [umáno] Mañana – morning/tomorrow [manyána] Amor – love [amór] Practicar – to practice [practicár] Carretera – road [carretéra] Español – Spanish [espaniól] Lluvia – rain [yúvia] Difícil – difficult [difícil] Carretera – road [carretéra] Hamster – hamster [ámster] Incredible – increíble [increíbleh] Plaza – square [plátha (Spain)/ plása (LA)] Amarillo – yellow [amaríyo] | Zapatos – shoes [thapátos (Spain)/sapatos (LA)] Joven – young [hóven] Llamar – to call [yamár] Rechazar – to reject [rechathár (Spain), Rechasár (LA)] Ser – to be [ser] Estar – to be [estár] Dibujar – to draw [dibuhár] Empezar – to start/begin [empethár (Spain), empesár (LA)] Hijo – son [éeho] Hija – daughter [éeha] Lápiz – pencil [lápith (Spain)/ lapis(LA)] Quierer – to want [querér] Vergüenza – shame [verguéntha (Spain)/[verguénsa (LA)] |