Alphabet Flashcards
a
The Spanish “a” is pronounced like the “a” in the word “father.”
b
Be
c
Ce
The Spanish “c” has two separate sounds, hard and soft. When appearing in the combinations “ca”, “co” and “cu”, the hard Spanish “c” closely resembles the English “k” sound. The difference is that when pronouncing the hard Spanish “c” there is no puff of air, as there is with the English “k”. When appearing in the combinations “ce” and “ci”, the “c” is softer. Spaniards pronounce this like the “z”, while Latin Americans pronounce it like the “s”.
d
De
The Spanish “d” has two separate sounds, hard and soft. At the beginning of a word and after “n” or “l”, the hard Spanish “d” closely resembles the “d” in the word “dog.” The difference is that when pronouncing the hard Spanish “d”, the tongue touches the back of the front teeth (rather than the gum ridge, as in English). In other situations (particularly between vowels) the “d” is softer, closely resembling the “th” sound in the word “this.”
e
e
The Spanish “e” is most often pronounced like the “a” in the word “date,” except that it is shorter and crisper.
f
efe
The Spanish “f” is pronounced like the “f” in the word “fire.”
g
ge
The Spanish “g” has three separate sounds: hard, soft and an “h” sound. After a pause and when followed by “a”, “o”, “u”, and when following the letter “n”, the hard Spanish “g” closely resembles the “g” in the word “got.” The soft “g” sound is not like any English sound, and will require considerable practice. This sound normally occurs between vowels. Finally, when “g” comes before “e” or “i”, it sounds like the “h” in the word “hot” except that it is “raspier.”
h
hache
Like the “h” in the English word “hour,” the Spanish “h” is always silent.
i
i
The Spanish “i” is pronounced like the “ee” in the word “see,” except that the sound is shorter.
j
Jota
The Spanish “j” is pronounced like the “h” in the word “hot,” except that it is “raspier.”
k
Ka
The “k” is pronounced like an English “k” without the puff of air.
l
ele
The Spanish “l” is similar to, but not exactly like the “l” in the word “call.”
m
Eme
The Spanish “m” is pronounced like the “m” in the word “mob.”
n
Ene
The Spanish “n” is usually pronounced like the “n” in the word “not.”
Ñ
Eñe
The Spanish “ñ” is pronounced like the “ny” in the word “canyon.”
o
O
The Spanish “o” is pronounced like the “o” in the word “no,” except that the sound is shorter.
p
Pe
The Spanish “p” is pronounced like the “p” in the English word “spot,” except that there is no puff of air.
q
Cu
The Spanish “q” — which always appears in combination with the letter “u” — is pronounced like the “k” in the word “kid,” but without the puff of air.
r
erre
The Spanish “r” has two separate sounds, depending on whether or not it is the first letter of a word. Neither one of these sounds even remotely resembles the English “r” sound. When the “r” is the first letter of the word, it is trilled like the “rr”, which is covered in the next lesson. Otherwise, the “r” sounds much like the “dd” of the word “ladder.” (It’s not exactly the same, but it’s much closer to this “dd” sound than to the English “r” sound.)
s
ese
The Spanish “s” is pronounced like the “s” in the word “salt,” except that it is a bit shorter.
t
te
When making the “t” sound in English, the tongue touches the gum ridge behind the upper front teeth. The Spanish “t” is produced quite differently, with the tongue actually touching the back of the front teeth, and without the puff of air that characterizes the English “t”.
u
u
The Spanish “u” is pronounced like the “ue” in the word “due,” except that the sound is shorter.
v
uve
w
The “w” is pronounced like the “b/v” when it occurs between vowels.
x
Equis
The Spanish “x” has three separate sounds. The first is like the “ks” in the word “talks” (examen). The second is pronounced like the English letter “h” and is reserved for certain proper nouns and words that are derived from them (México, mexicano). The third is pronounced like the English “ch” and it, too is reserved for certain proper nouns (Xitle, Xela).
y
The Spanish “y” acts as both a consonant and as a vowel. Earlier lessons on diphthongs discuss how the “y” sounds as a vowel. This lesson will focus on “y” as a consonant. As a consonant, the Spanish “y” has two common sounds. Depending upon the region, the “y” might sound like the English “y” in the word “yes” or the “j” in the English word “joy.”
z
Zeta
The Spanish “z” is pronounced differently in Spain than in Latin America. In Spain, it is pronounced like the “th” in the English word “think.” In Latin America, it is pronounced like the letter “s”.
Hard c sound
Ca
Co
Cu
Qui
Que
Soft c sound
Ce
Ci
Za
Zo
Zu
Spit sound
Ge
Gi
Jo
Ju
Ga sound
Gue
Gui
Go
Gu
No need for spit
Ch
The Spanish “ch” is pronounced like the “ch” in the word “chief.”
ll
The pronunciation of the Spanish “ll” can vary widely from region to region. Most commonly, it is pronounced like the “y” in the word “yes,” or like the “lli” in the word “million.”
The pronunciation of the Spanish “ll” can vary widely from region to region. Most commonly, it is pronounced like the “y” in the word “yes,” or like the “lli” in the word “million.”
*
rr
qu
ce
ci
ca
co
cu
cc
ge
gi
Ai
One such vowel combination, “ai” (or “ay” word ending), is pronounced like the English word “eye,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound.
when there is a written accent over the letter “i”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
Ei
One such vowel combination, “ei” (or “ey” word ending), is pronounced like the “ay” in the English word “say,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “i”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
oi
One such vowel combination, “oi” (or “oy” word ending), is pronounced like the “oy” in the English word “boy,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “i”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
Ui
One such vowel combination, “ui” (or “uy” word ending), is pronounced like the English word “we,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound.
Au
One such vowel combination, “au”, is pronounced like the “ow” in the English word “owl,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound.
One such vowel combination, “au”, is pronounced like the “ow” in the English word “owl,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “u”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
Eu
It sounds like a combination of the “ay” of the word “say” and the “oo” of the word “boot.”
One such vowel combination, “eu”, does not have an English equivalent. It sounds like a combination of the “ay” of the word “say” and the “oo” of the word “boot.” Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “u”, as in the word “transeúnte,” the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
Ia
“eah”
One such vowel combination, “ia”, is pronounced like the “eo” in the English word “neon,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound.
One such vowel combination, “ia”, is pronounced like the “eo” in the English word “neon,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “i”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
Ie
Io
“eoh”
One such vowel combination, “io”, is pronounced like the “eo” in the English word “video,” except that it is a somewhat shorter sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “i”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
iu
ua
“WAH”
One such vowel combination, “ua”, has no real English equivalent, but can be reproduced by combining the “oo” of the word “boot” with the “a” of the word “papa.” Be sure to combine these two sounds into a single sound. Note that when there is a written accent over the letter “u”, the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
ue
“Weh”
One such vowel combination, “ue”, has no real English equivalent, but can be reproduced by combining the “oo” of the word “boot” with the “a” of the word “paper.” Be sure to combine these two sounds into a single sound.
uo
“Woh”
One such vowel combination, “uo”, has no real English equivalent, but can be reproduced by combining the “oo” of the word “boot” with the “o” of the word “note.” Be sure to combine these two sounds into a single sound. Note that when there is an accent over the letter “u”, as in “dúo,” the diphthong is “broken” and the two vowels are pronounced separately.
za
“THA”
zo
“THU”
Hard r
Soft r
Hard b/v
After:
* m
* n
Or:
* At the beginning of the word
Soft b/v
lower lip doesn’t touch teeth
Hard d
- Beginnig of word
After: - n
- l
Tounge needs to touch the back of teeth
Soft d
Between vowels
b/v
The Spanish “b” (be larga) and “v” (be corta) are pronounced exactly alike. These letters have two separate sounds, hard and soft. At the beginning of a word and after “m” or “n”, the hard Spanish “b/v” closely resembles the “b” in the word “boy,” except that the lips are held tense. In other situations, the “b/v” is pronounced like an English “b” in which the lower lip doesn’t touch the teeth. (This is a sound that does not exist in English.)
DIPHTHONGS
Diphthongs occur when an unstressed “i”, “u”, or “y-ending” appears next to another vowel in the same syllable. Their vowel sounds do not change, but they blend together to form a single syllable.
