Contents · 0
Tap a sentence to see its translation.
Spanish is written with the same alphabet as English, plus one letter, ñ: its alphabet has twenty-seven letters. Its spelling is very regular: once the value of each letter and letter group is known, any word can be read aloud, and the written accent shows the stressed syllable whenever the rule is not enough to find it. The difficulties for an English speaker lie elsewhere: the vowels, which always keep the same pure sound and never glide or fade as in English “day”, “go” or the “a” of “about”; the jota, a rasping sound at the back of the throat, written j, and g before e and i; the tapped r and the rolled rr; ll and y; ñ; b and v, which sound the same; c before e and i and z, said like “th” in “think” in Spain and like “s” in Latin America; h, which is always silent; qu and gu, whose u is not said; the stress and the written accent; and the upside-down question and exclamation marks, ¿ and ¡, which open the sentence.
0
The Spanish alphabet
The Spanish alphabet follows the English order; ñ comes straight after n: in a dictionary, año comes after every word beginning with an-. The vowels are named after their sound, and e is always said “eh”, i “ee” and u “oo”. Many consonants are named with a final “eh”: b is said beh, d deh, p peh, t teh; others with an “e” at the start and at the end: f EH-feh, l EH-leh, m EH-meh, n EH-neh, s EH-seh. The names that catch out an English speaker when spelling are those of e (eh), i (ee), g, j, h (AH-cheh), q (koo), u (oo), v (OO-beh), y (yeh) and z (THEH-tah). The groups ch and ll were counted as letters until 2010; they no longer are, but their old names, che and elle, are still heard.
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /a/ | /a/ | casa | like “a” in “father” (casa); never “ay” as in “name”, never the “a” of “cat” said ah, like “a” in “father”; never “ay” |
| B b | be /be/ | /b/ | bueno | like English “b” at the start of a word and after m or n (bueno); between two vowels, softer, the lips barely touching; the same sound as v said beh; in Latin America, often be larga or be alta (“long b”, “tall b”) to tell it from v |
| C c | ce /θe/ | /k/ · /θ/ | casa cena | “k” before a, o, u and before a consonant (casa); before e and i, like “th” in “think” in Spain, “s” in Latin America (cena); never “s” as in “city” in Spain said theh, like “th” in “think”, in Spain; seh in Latin America; never “see” |
| D d | de /de/ | /d/ | día | like English “d”, with the tongue against the teeth, at the start of a word and after n or l (día); between two vowels and at the end of a word, softer, like “th” in “other” said deh |
| E e | e /e/ | /e/ | mesa | always said, like “e” in “set” (mesa); never “ee”, never gliding into “ee” as in “day”, never silent, even at the end of a word said eh, like “e” in “set”, with no glide into “ee”; never “ee” |
| F f | efe /ˈefe/ | /f/ | familia | said EH-feh, with the final e said |
| G g | ge /xe/ | /ɡ/ · /x/ | gato gente | hard, as in “go”, before a, o, u and before a consonant (gato); before e and i, the rasping sound of the jota (gente); never the “g” of “gentle” said kheh, with the rasping sound of the jota, like “ch” in Scottish “loch”; never “jee” |
| H h | hache /ˈatʃe/ | silent | ahora | never said (ahora) said AH-cheh; the letter itself is never said |
| I i | i /i/ | /i/ · /j/ | si bien | like “ee” in “see”, but short (sí); before another vowel, like “y” in “yes” (bien); never “eye” or the “i” of “bit” said ee, like “ee” in “see”; never “eye”; also called i latina, to tell it from y |
| J j | jota /ˈxota/ | /x/ | jamón | a rasping breath at the back of the throat, like “ch” in Scottish “loch” (jamón); in the Caribbean and Central America, a plain breath, like English “h”; never the “j” of “jam” said KHO-tah, with a rasping sound at the back of the throat, like “ch” in Scottish “loch”; never “jay” |
| K k | ka /ka/ | /k/ | kilo | “k”, in a few loanwords (kilo) said kah, a letter of a few loanwords |
| L l | ele /ˈele/ | /l/ | luna | said EH-leh, with the final e said |
| M m | eme /ˈeme/ | /m/ | madre | said EH-meh, with the final e said |
| N n | ene /ˈene/ | /n/ | no | always said, as in English (no) said EH-neh, with the final e said |
| Ñ ñ | eñe /ˈeɲe/ | said EH-nyeh, with the “ny” of “canyon”; a letter of its own, placed after n | ||
| O o | o /o/ | /o/ | ocho | a short pure “o”, between “o” in “more” and “oh” (ocho); never gliding into “oo” as in “go” said oh, a short pure “o”, with no glide into “oo” as in “go” |
| P p | pe /pe/ | /p/ | padre | said peh |
| Q q | cu /ku/ | /k/ | queso | always followed by a silent u; qu is said “k” (queso); never “kw” as in “quick” said koo; never “cue” |
| R r | erre /ˈere/ | /ɾ/ · /r/ | pero rosa | between two vowels and after a consonant in the same syllable, a single tap of the tongue, like the “t” of American “atom” or “water” (pero); at the start of a word and after n, l or s, rolled, with several taps (rosa); never the English r said EH-rreh, with a rolled r |
| S s | ese /ˈese/ | /s/ | sí | always like “s” in “sun”, even between two vowels (sí); never “z” as in “rose” said EH-seh, with the final e said |
| T t | te /te/ | /t/ | todo | said teh |
| U u | u /u/ | /u/ · /w/ | luna bueno | like “oo” in “cool” (luna); before another vowel, like “w” in “wet” (bueno); never “you” or the “u” of “but” said oo, like “oo” in “cool”; never “you” |
| V v | uve /ˈube/ | /b/ | vino | the same sound as b (vino); never the English “v”, with the teeth on the lip said OO-beh in Spain; in Latin America also ve (said beh), ve corta or ve baja (“short v”, “low v”) |
| W w | uve doble /ˈube ˈdoble/ | /w/ | web | like English “w”, in loanwords (web) said OO-beh DOH-bleh, that is “double v”, in Spain; DOH-bleh oo, “double u”, in Mexico |
| X x | equis /ˈekis/ | /ks/ | taxi | “ks” between two vowels (taxi); the sound of the jota in México, Oaxaca and Texas said EH-kees |
| Y y | ye /ʝe/ | /ʝ/ · /i/ | yo hoy | before a vowel, like “y” in “yes”, a little stronger (yo); at the end of a word (hoy) and in the word y (“and”), “ee” said yeh; the old name i griega (“Greek i”) is still very common; never “why” |
| Z z | zeta /ˈθeta/ | /θ/ | zapato | like c before e and i: like “th” in “think” in Spain, “s” in Latin America (zapato); never the “z” of “zoo” said THEH-tah, like “th” in “think”, in Spain; SEH-tah in Latin America; never “zed” or “zee” |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: to the question ¿Cómo se escribe? (“How do you spell it?”), the answer is, for example, G-I-L, kheh – ee – EH-leh. rr is called doble erre (“double r”); ll is called doble ele or elle. An accented letter is announced with con tilde: José is spelt KHO-tah – oh – EH-seh – eh con tilde. The names of the letters are feminine and take a plural ending: la be, las erres, dos íes.
- ¿Cómo se escribe?How do you spell it?
- G-I-LG, I, L
- doble erredouble r
- con tildewith an accent
Remember
In Spanish, e is called eh and i ee; g is called kheh, j KHO-tah, h AH-cheh, v OO-beh, y yeh and z THEH-tah; u is said oo. These are the letters most often mixed up when a name or an address is spelt aloud.
The five vowels are always said, clearly, wherever they stand in the word, and keep the same sound whether stressed or not: Spanish has no silent e, no gliding vowels as in English “day” or “go”, and no weak vowel like the “a” of “about”. Most consonants are said much as in English: f, k, l, m, n, p and t, although p, t and k are said without the puff of air heard in English “pen”, “top” or “kit”, and t and d with the tongue against the teeth. Said differently are chiefly c and g, which change their sound with the vowel that follows, d, j, r, s, z, b and v, h and the vowels.
Difference from English
English vowels change with stress and often glide: “no” ends in “oo”, “day” in “ee”, and an unstressed vowel fades to the “a” of “about”. Spanish vowels are pure and full: each is held steady from start to finish, stressed or not, so no is a short, clean “o” and mesa ends in a clear “a”. Spanish makes no difference of sound between b and v: vino and bueno begin with the same sound, a “b”. On the other hand, it tells s, always like the “s” of “sun”, from the sound of z and of c before e and i, which the north and centre of Spain say like “th” in “think”; Latin America, the Canary Islands and part of Andalusia say it “s”, and this pronunciation, seseo, is as correct as the other. s between two vowels never becomes “z” as in English “rose”: casa is said KAH-sah.
- casa / cenahouse / dinner
- gato / gentecat / people
- bueno / vinogood / wine
- pero / rosabut / rose
c, z, g and j
Before a, o, u and before a consonant, c is said “k” and g is hard, as in “go”. Before e and i, c is said like z, like “th” in “think” in Spain, “s” in Latin America, and g is said like j, with the rasping sound of the jota. z is hardly ever written before e and i: there, c is written: lápiz, lápices. To keep the “k” sound before e and i, qu is written (queso); to keep the hard g of “go”, gu is written (guitarra).
Common mistakes
[ˈsena]→ [ˈθena]In Spain, cena begins with the “th” of “think”; the “s” is the Latin American pronunciation.[ˈdʒente]→ [ˈxente]In gente, g is said like a jota, never like the “g” of “gentle”.[dʒaˈmon]→ [xaˈmon]jamón begins with a rasping sound at the back of the throat, never with the “j” of “jam”.[ˈkaza]→ [ˈkasa]In casa, the s between two vowels stays the “s” of “sun”.[ˈvino]→ [ˈbino]In vino, v is said like b.
Practise
0
Letter groups
Several sounds are written with two letters. The group ch stands for the “ch” of “church”, as in English, never the “k” of “chorus” or the “sh” of “chef”. The group ll and y before a vowel are now said the same way almost everywhere, roughly like “y” in “yes”. The group rr stands for the rolled r between two vowels. In qu and gu before e and i, the u is not said. Two vowels that follow each other are each said: eu is never the “you” of “euro”. Finally, a vowel before n is still said with its own pure sound.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /tʃ/ | chico | like “ch” in “church” (chico); never “k” as in “chorus” or “sh” as in “chef” |
| ll | /ʝ/ | llamar | roughly like “y” in “yes”, a little stronger (llamar); in Argentina and Uruguay, like “sh” in “shop” or “s” in “measure”; never “l” |
| rr | /r/ | perro | a rolled r, with several taps of the tongue (perro) |
| qu | /k/ | queso | “k”, before e and i; the u is not said (queso); never “kw” as in “quick” |
| gu | /ɡ/ | guitarra | the hard g of “go”, before e and i; the u is not said (guitarra); never “gw” |
| ge | /x/ | gente | kheh, with the rasping sound of the jota (gente) |
| gi | /x/ | página | khee, with the rasping sound of the jota (página) |
| ce | /θ/ | cena | theh, like “th” in “think”, in Spain; seh in Latin America (cena) |
| ci | /θ/ | cinco | thee, like “th” in “think”, in Spain; see in Latin America (cinco) |
| an | /an/ | pan | “ah” then a clearly said n (pan); never the “a” of English “pan” |
| en | /en/ | bien | “eh” then a clearly said n, as in “ten” (bien) |
| on | /on/ | con | a pure “o” then a clearly said n (con); never the “o” of “gone” or “bone” |
| ei | /ei/ | seis | “eh” then “ee”, in the same syllable, close to “ay” in “day” (seis) |
| eu | /eu/ | euro | “eh” then “oo”, in the same syllable (euro); never “you” as in English “euro” |
- chicoboy
- llamarto call
- perrodog
- quesocheese
- guitarraguitar
- seissix
- panbread
One r or two
Between two vowels, r is a single tap of the tongue and rr a rolled r, with several taps; the difference tells words apart: pero (“but”) and perro (“dog”). rr is only written between two vowels: at the start of a word and after n, l or s, a single r is already rolled (rosa, Enrique). The Spanish r is made with the tip of the tongue against the ridge behind the upper teeth, and it is said wherever it stands, also before a consonant and at the end of a word (hablar); it is never the English r.
Remember
ch is said as in “church”, ll roughly like “y” in “yes”; in queso and guitarra, the u is not said. pan is said pahn, with the “a” of “father”.
Common mistakes
[laˈmaɾ]→ [ʝaˈmaɾ]In llamar, ll is not said like l: it is roughly like “y” in “yes”.[ˈpeɾo]→ [ˈpero]To say “dog”, the rr of perro is rolled; pero, with a single tap, means “but”.[ˈkweso]→ [ˈkeso]In queso, the u is not said.[ɡwiˈtara]→ [ɡiˈtara]In guitarra, the u is not said: gu is the hard g of “go”.[pæn]→ [pan]pan is said with the “a” of “father”, never with the “a” of English “pan”.
Practise
0
Stress and written accents
As in English, each Spanish word has its stressed syllable, said louder than the others, and its place can tell two words apart: caso (“case”) and casó (“he married”). But English never writes its stress, and its place has to be learnt word by word; in Spanish, a simple rule gives the place of the stress, and the written accent, always acute, is written only on the words that break the rule. It never changes the sound of the vowel: é is said like e.
Where the stress falls
A word ending in a vowel, in n or in s is stressed on the second-to-last syllable: casa, hablan, libros. A word ending in another consonant is stressed on the last syllable: hablar, español, usted, reloj. A word stressed anywhere else has a written accent on the stressed vowel: café, también, adiós (last syllable), árbol, lápiz (second-to-last), música, teléfono (third-to-last; such words always have the written accent).
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| á | /a/ | árbol | a stressed “ah”, where the rule does not expect the stress (árbol) |
| é | /e/ | café | a stressed “eh”; the same sound as e, the accent only shows the stressed syllable (café) |
| í | /i/ | aquí | a stressed “ee” (aquí); on an i next to another vowel, it splits the two vowels into two syllables (día) |
| ó | /o/ | adiós | a stressed “o”; the same sound as o (adiós) |
| ú | /u/ | música | a stressed “oo” (música) |
| ü | /w/ | pingüino | the diaeresis, on the u of güe and güi: the u is then said, “gw” (pingüino) |
| ñ | /ɲ/ | niño | like “ny” in “canyon” (niño); never a plain n |
The accent that tells two words apart
A few one-syllable words, which normally have no written accent, take one to tell them from another word: tú (“you”) and tu (“your”), él (“he, him”) and el (“the”), sí (“yes”) and si (“if”), mí (“me”) and mi (“my”), té (“tea”) and te (“you”, object), sé (“I know”) and se (a pronoun). Question and exclamation words always have the written accent: qué, cómo, dónde, cuándo, quién.
Difference from English
English has no written accents of its own, and an English speaker tends to drop them or to stress the wrong syllable, often the first: teléfono is stressed on -lé-, café on its last syllable. The accent is part of the spelling: without it, tú (“you”) becomes tu (“your”). Spanish has only the acute accent, never a grave or a circumflex, and the accent is kept on capitals: Ángel, ÁFRICA. ñ is not an accented n but a letter of its own, placed after n.
- casahouse
- hablarto speak
- cafécoffee
- árboltree
- músicamusic
Question and exclamation marks. A question opens with ¿ and closes with ?; an exclamation opens with ¡ and closes with !. Both marks are compulsory and frame exactly the question or the exclamation, which can begin in the middle of the sentence: Pedro, ¿dónde estás? As in English, there is no space before the closing mark, and no full stop follows it.
- ¿Hablas español?Do you speak Spanish?
- ¡Hola!Hello!
- Pedro, ¿dónde estás?Pedro, where are you?
Common mistakes
Hablas español?→ ¿Hablas español?A question always opens with ¿.musica→ músicamúsica is stressed on the third-to-last syllable: the written accent is compulsory.Tu eres español.→ Tú eres español.The pronoun tú (“you”) has an accent; without it, tu means “your”.
Capital letters. As in English, a capital marks the start of a sentence and proper names; but days, months and adjectives of nationality are written with a small letter, unlike in English: lunes, enero, español. The pronoun yo (“I”) is written with a small letter too. In a word beginning with ch or ll, only the first letter is a capital: Chile, Llorente.
Practise
0
The silent h and the end of words
In English, a final e is usually silent (“name”, “come”); in Spanish, every final letter is said: e (noche), s (dos), n (pan), l (español), r (hablar), z (lápiz). Only a final d is weakened. The only silent letters are h, and the u of qu and gu before e and i.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| h | silent | hola | never said, neither at the start of a word (hola) nor between two vowels: ahora is said ah-OH-rah |
| -e | /e/ | noche | a final e is always said, a clear “eh” (noche); never silent as in “name” |
| -s | /s/ | dos | a final s is always said, like “s” in “sun” (dos); never “z” as in “dogs”; it marks the plural in speech as in writing |
| -d | /ð/ | usted | a final d is said very softly, like “th” in “other”, and fades away in some regions (usted); never a strong “d” |
Difference from English
An English speaker tends to drop a final e or to say it like the “a” of “about”. In Spanish, the final vowel is said in full, with its own sound: noche has two syllables, gente too, and dos has a pure “o”, never “oh-oo”. The h of hola, hotel or ahora is never breathed, unlike English h in “house”; the breathed sound of Spanish is written j, or g before e and i.
- nochenight
- dostwo
- ustedyou (polite)
- holahello
Common mistakes
[notʃ]→ [ˈnotʃe]The final e of noche is always said.[doʊs]→ [dos]The o of dos is pure, with no glide into “oo”.[ˈhola]→ [ˈola]The h of hola is not said.
Practise
0
In short
| Written | Said | Example |
|---|---|---|
| c, g before a, o, u | “k”, g of “go” | casa, gato |
| ce, ci, z | “th” of “think” (Spain), “s” (Latin America) | cena, cinco, zapato |
| j, ge, gi | rasping jota, “ch” of Scottish “loch” | jamón, gente, página |
| qu, gu before e, i | “k”, g of “go”; u silent | queso, guitarra |
| güe, güi | “gw” | pingüino |
| b, v | the same sound, “b” | bueno, vino |
| r between vowels | one tap | pero |
| rr, r at the start | rolled r | perro, rosa |
| ll, y before a vowel | “y” of “yes” | llamar, yo |
| ñ | “ny” of “canyon” | niño |
| ch | “ch” of “church” | chico |
| s | always “s” of “sun” | casa |
| u | “oo” of “cool” | luna |
| a, e, i, o, u | pure, never gliding | no, mesa |
| final e, final s | always said | noche, dos |
| h | silent | hola, ahora |
| á, é, í, ó, ú | stressed syllable, same sound | café, árbol, música |
| ¿ … ?, ¡ … ! | open and close the sentence | ¿Hablas español? |