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Spanish Pronunciation

Terms in this set (39)

A
Sounds like the A in FATHER
E
Sounds like the E in Eggs
I
Sounds like the I in Iguana, or like EE in Bee.
O
Sounds like the O in MOST
U
Sounds like the U in FLU
á, é, í, ó, ú
In Spanish, vowels can have an accent mark on top in certain words. When you see one, it indicates that the syllable has to be stressed when spoken.
Note: You will never see accent marks on a consonant.
F
Sounds like the English F
H
It doesn't sound. It's silent! (like the H in the English words "Hour" or "Honor".
J
Sounds similar to the sound in WHO, like Juan and Jalapeño
L
Sounds like the English L
M
Sounds like the English M
N
Sounds like the English N
Ñ
Sounds like the NY in CANYON.
(Note: Ñ is it's own letter in the Spanish alphabet, and you won't find it in any other language!)
P
Sounds like the English P but without a puff of air at the end.
S
Sounds like the S in Serpent
T
Sounds like the English T except the tip of the tongue presses against your upper teeth and there is no puff of air.
B, V
They basically sound the same. V sounds like a soft B.
D (at the beginning of a word, or following l, n or r)
Sounds like the English D except that your tongue gently strikes the back of the upper front teeth.
D (between two vowels or at the end of a word)
Sounds like a very soft TH sound. Your tongue should strike the lower part of your upper teeth almost between the upper and lower teeth.
Ce, Ci
In Latin America, C sounds like an English S when followed by e and i.
In Spain, it sounds like a softer version of the TH sound in the English words "Therapy" or "Thin".
Z
In Latin America, it sounds like an English S.
In Spain, it sounds like a softer version of the TH sound in the English word "Thanks".
CA, CO, CU
Sound like a hard K sound (as in "Kahoot").
(Note: CUA sounds like QUA in English)
QUE, QUI
The Spanish Q sounds like a hard K in English.
You will never find a Spanish word where Q is not followed by UE or IE.
U is silent when in the middle of q and e, or q and i.
These combinations sound KEH, KIH.
GUE, GUI
These combinations sound like the same letters in the English words "GUESS" and "GUITAR".
The Spanish G in this case sounds like a hard G in English.
U is silent when in the middle of g and e, or g and i. (unless it has a diaeresis).
GÜE, GÜI
The special character on top of the U is called "diaeresis", "umlaut" or "diacritical mark".
In Spanish, you will only find it on top of a U that is preceded by g and followed by e or i.
It exists to indicate that the U is not silent and it must be pronounced.
GÜE sounds like the English word "unguent" (Gwe).
GÜI sounds like the English word "penguin" (Gwi).
Ga, Go, Gu
Sound like a hard G (gah, goh, goo)
Ge, Gi
Sounds similar to a soft H like in Hen or He
Cha, Che, Chi, Cho, Chu
The combination CH sounds like the CH in chest.
X (between two vowels)
Sounds like a softer English X, like a KS sound.
(as in examen = ek·sa·men)
X (followed by a consonant)
In Latin America, it sounds like a GS sound (exfoliante would be egs·fo·lian·te).
In Spain, it sounds like an S (exfoliante would be es·fo·lian·te)
X (at the beginning of a word and followed by a vowel)
Sounds like an S in English
R (at the beginning of a word, or when followed by n, l, or s)
Sounds like a trilled/rolled R (as in rosa = rose; or enredado = tangled).
This sound doesn't exist in English... but it's a whole lot of fun!
R (in the middle of two vowels or when followed by consonants other than n, l, or s)
Sounds like the T in the English words "city" or the second T in "tomato" (American English). It is a soft vibrant sound with no rolling of the tongue.
Doble R (RR, only found in the middle of a word)
a trilled/rolled R.
This sound doesn't exist in English... but it's a whole lot of fun!
Y (used as a vowel)
Sounds like EE in English (as in BEE, or just like the letter i in Spanish)
Y (used as a consonant; that is, at the beginning o a word or a syllable.)
In Spain and most Spanish-speaking countries, it sounds like a J+Y combination.
In Mexico and Latin America, it sounds like the Y in YO-YO.
Doble L (LL)
Similar than Y as a consonant, this combination is pronounced differently depending on the region:
In Spain and most Spanish-speaking countries, it sounds like a J+Y combination.
In Mexico and Latin America, it sounds like the Y in YO-YO.
K
Sounds like the English K. It's a letter foreign to Spanish, only found in words that were borrowed from another language.
W
Sounds like the English W (There are less than 30 words in the Spanish dictionary that start with W, the reason being that it's a letter foreign to Spanish, only found in words that were borrowed from another language, just like K).
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