Chapter 01.: Spelling, Pronunciation, Punctuation

Question 1

What are the 4 rules of Spanish stress?

Answer 1

1. Ending in -s or -n and no mark: penultimate syllable.
2. Ending in a vowel and no mark: penultimate syllable.
3. Ending in a consonant other than s or n and no mark: last syllable.
4. If the word doesn’t follow these rules, an acute accent will be
   placed on the vowel of the stressed syllable.

Question 2

In Spanish what purposes do the acute accent serve?

Answer 2

1. To indicate the stressed syllable in words which don’t follow the first three stress rules: manatí, sábado, etc.
2. To indicate a question word: cuál, qué, etc.
3. To differentiate common one-syllable homophones:
   si (if) vs. sí (yes); tu (your) vs tú (you), etc.

Question 3

comma

Answer 3

la coma

Question 4

quotation marks

Answer 4

las comillas

Question 5

colon

Answer 5

dos puntos

Question 6

parenthesis

Answer 6

el paréntesis

Question 7

semicolon

Answer 7

el punto y coma

Question 8

period

Answer 8

el punto

Question 9

exclamation point

Answer 9

el signo de admiración/el signo de exclamación

Question 10

question mark

Answer 10

el signo de interrogación

Question 11

B.C.

Answer 11

a. de J.C./a.C.

Question 12

A.D.

Answer 12

d.C.

Question 13

Dr.

Answer 13

Dr. (male), Dra. (female)

Question 14

Drs.

Answer 14

Drs.

Question 15

etc.

Answer 15

etc.

Question 16

UN

Answer 16

ONU

Question 17

p. (page)

Answer 17

pág.

Question 18

P.S.

Answer 18

P.D. (>Latin: post data)

Question 19

Inc.

Answer 19

S.A.

Question 20

Mr.

Answer 20

Sr.

Question 21

Mrs.

Answer 21

Sra.

Question 22

Miss (e.g. Miss Smith)

Answer 22

Srta.

Question 23

EU

Answer 23

UE

Question 24

US

Answer 24

EE.UU.

Question 25

abbreviation for the Olympic Games

Answer 25

JJ.OO.

Question 26

abbreviation for La Fundación del Español Urgente

Answer 26

FUNDÉU

Question 27

OAS (Organization of American States)

Answer 27

OEA

Question 28

NGO

Answer 28

ONG

Question 29

NATO

Answer 29

OTAN

Question 30

UFO

Answer 30

OVNI

Question 31

In English, when we write a series separated by commas, we may choose to use a comma before “and,” or not. What is the rule in Spanish

Answer 31

In Spanish, never use a comma before “y.”

Question 32

In English, we use a colon at the end of formal addresses and a comma in informal ones. What is the rule in Spanish?

Answer 32

Always use the colon (dos puntos) at the end of an address.

Question 33

In the US, we always include final punctuation marks within quotation marks or parentheses. In Britain, they lie outside the quotes or parentheses, unless the statement contained is a complete utterance or statement. How does Spanish do this?

Answer 33

The rules for Spanish in this matter are the same as the British English rules.

Question 34

In English, we pluralize acronyms with an apostrophe + “s.” “The UFO’s.” What about Spanish?

Answer 34

In Spanish, only the article changes. “Los OVNI”

Question 35

Is there anything special about question marks and exclamation marks in Spanish?

Answer 35

Yes. An Exclamation or question must be preceded by an inverted mark. “Go!” “¡Vaya!” “Who is it?” “¿Quién es?”

Question 36

What are some types of words which are capitalized in English which are not capitalized in Spanish?

Answer 36

1. Months. “It’s January.” “Estamos en enero.”
2. Days of the week. “Today is Wednesday.” “Hoy es miércoles.”
3. Adjectives and nouns of nationality. “Martha is Italian.” “Marta es italiana.”

Question 37

pronunciation of “a”

Answer 37

/ɑ/ as in English “fAther”

Al (to the)
mAnzAnA (apple)
doctorA (female doctor)

Question 38

pronunciation of “b”

Answer 38

1. initial: /b/ as in English “boy:” Bota (boot)
2. medial: /β/, voiced bilabial fricative. (similar to an English “v,” but pronounced with both lips rather than bottom lip and upper teeth: aBuela (grandmother)
   “b” never appears at the end of a word in Spanish. The letters “b” and “v” have identical sounds.

Question 39

pronunciation of “c”:

Answer 39

1. Before any consonant except “h” and before any vowel except “e” and “i”, = /k/ as in English Cat, but with no aspiration: Calidad (quality)
2. Before “e” or “i”:
   a. In about half of Spain, including Madrid, = /θ/ as in English “THink”
   b. Elsewhere = /s/ as in English “Cede”
   cero (zero)
   acción (action): /ɑk ˈsjon/ OR /ɑk ˈ θ jon/
3. ch = /t ʃ/ as in English “CHarm”
   CHile
   The letter “c” never comes at the end of a word in Spanish

Question 40

pronunciation of “d”

Answer 40

1. at the beginning of a word or before a consonant = /d/ as in English Day: Día (day), aDvertir (to warn)
2. Elsewhere = /δ/ as in English THose: iDioma (language), comuniDaD (community)

Question 41

pronunciation of “e:”

Answer 41

always /e/. This pure vowel is rarely heard in English, but there are a few examples: chAotic. Él (he), pErro (dog), traducE (he/she/ you formal translate(s).

Question 42

pronunciation of “f”

Answer 42

Always /f/ as in Film. Foto (photo), aFluente (affluent).

This letter never appears at the end of a Spanish word.

Question 43

pronunciation of “g”

Answer 43

1. Before any letter except “e” and “i”, = /g/ as in Go.: Gato (cat) iGlesia (church) iGuana (iguana)
2. Before “e” or “i” = /x/. This sound does not exist in English, but may be heard in German aCH and Scotts Gaelic loCH
   Gemir (to moan), Gimnasio (gymnasium), EGipto (Egypt), recoGes (you s fam pick up).

This letter never appears at the end of the word in Spanish.

Question 44

pronunciation of “h”

Answer 44

h is always silent. alcoHol (alcohol)

It appears in the digraph ch.

1. In words, the initial “h” replaces an f in Latin. e.g. hambre (hunger. cf fr. faim, it. fame, en. famished); hija (daughter. cf. fr fille, it figlia, en filial).
2. If a word begins with a /w/ sound (u + another vowel), an “h” must be placed before it. e.g. huevo (egg)

Question 45

pronunciation of “i”

Answer 45

1. When not preceding another vowel, or when preceding a vowel and carrying an accent mark, = /i/ as in English machIne.: idea (idea), mismo (same, self), ti (you, prepositional object, singular, familiar), María (Maria)
2. When followed by another vowel and not carrying an accent mark = /j/ as in English Yellow. quiero (I want, I love), mania (mania)

Question 46

pronunciation of /j/

Answer 46

always /x/. This sound does not exist in English, but may be heard in German aCH or Scotts Gaelic loCH

jamás (never), Guadalajara, aj (exclamation)

Question 47

pronunciation of “k”

Answer 47

always /k/ like k in English “kitten,” but not aspirated. This letter appears only in words borrowed from other languages.

Kenia (Kenya), kan (khan), karate

Question 48

pronunciation of “L”

Answer 48

1. Accept in the digraph “LL,” this letter sounds like a dental /l/, similar to the L of English Lemon.
   latino, alegre (happy), casual
2. LL varies in pronunciation according to geographical region. In some areas, it is /j/ as the Y in English “yellow.” In other places, it sounds like /ʎ/, like the gl in Italian “gli,” similar to the lli in English “million.” It may also sound like /ʒ/, the s in English “measure.” Finally, it may sound like /ʝ/, the variant most often heard in Caribbean Spanish. llamar (to call), calle (street)

Question 49

Pronunciation of “m”

Answer 49

always /m/ as in English “mother.”

mamá (mommy), hambre (hunger)

This letter never appears at the end of Spanish words.

Question 50

Pronunciation of “n”

Answer 50

always /n/, similar to the n in English Nancy, but dental.

no, fantasma (ghost), Don

note that “ñ” is considered a separate letter.

Question 51

pronunciation of “ñ”

Answer 51

always /ɲ/. This sound does not appear in English, but is very close to the ny of “canyon.” It can be heard in the gn of fr. agneau and it. gnocchi. ñu (gnu, Wildebeest), niño (little boy)

This letter is never found at the end of a Spanish word.

Question 52

pronunciation of “o”

Answer 52

always /o/. This pure vowel is seldom heard in English, but may be heard in the “o” of “poetic.”

ocho (eight), pelota (ball)

Question 53

pronunciation of “p”

Answer 53

always /p/, similar to the p’s of English “puppy,” but with no aspiration.

poeta (poet), reponer (to replace)

this letter is never used at the end of a Spanish word.

Question 54

pronunciation of “q”

Answer 54

q only appears with “u”, and the pair appear only before “e” and “i.” “qu” always = /k/. This is similar to the qu of English “piquant” (or the k of “kitten”), but without aspiration.

que (what), qui (who) aquí (here)
q and qu never appear at the end of a word in Spanish.

Question 55

pronunciation of “r”

Answer 55

1. when not doubled and not at the beginning of a word, = /ɾ/, a tongue flap. This sound can be heard in fast English speech as the tt in “butter” and “better”.
   cara (dear, face), grande (big, great), formular (information form)
2. When doubled, or at the beginning of a word, it is /r:r/: a strong roll. rosa (rose), arriba (up). Double r appears only in the medial position of words.

Question 56

pronunciation of “s”

Answer 56

always /s/ as in English “see.”

soñar (to dream), beso (kiss), pelotas (balls)

Question 57

pronunciation of “t”

Answer 57

always a dental /t/, similar to that in English “team.”

tanto (so much), atraer (to attract)

This letter does not appear at the end of Spanish words.

Question 58

pronunciation of “u.”

Answer 58

1. when not followed by a vowel, = /u/ as the o in English “move.” ubicación (location), atún (tuna) tú (you, s, fam).
2. When followed by a vowel and not preceded by “g” or “q,” = /w/ as the u in English “penguin.” When this sound occurs at the beginning of the word, it must be preceded by a written h. huésped (guest), fuente (source, fountain)
3. When preceded by “g” and not followed by “e” or “i,” = w
   guante (glove), agua (water).
4. When preceded by “g” or “q” and followed by “e” or “i,” = silent. guerra (war), guisante (pea), que (what), qui (who)
5. On occasion, the u will take a diaeresis. This is the only letter in Spanish to use this symbol. When the diaeresis appears, the “u” is to be pronounced as /w/. This only occurs when the u is after g and before e or i. pingüino (penguin), vergüenza (shame, embarrassment)

in short:
/u/ when not preceding a vowel.
/w/ when ü; also when preceding a vowel except in the combinations
gue, gui, que, qui (without dieresis)
-silent- in gue, gui, que, qui (except when the u has a dieresis)

Question 59

pronunciation of “v”

Answer 59

the sounds and rules are identical to those for “b.”

varios (a few, various, several), obvio (obvious), avaricia (avarice)

Question 60

pronunciation of “w”

Answer 60

w only exists in imported words. It takes on the sound that it carried in the source language, most commonly /w./

sandwich walkman western

Question 61

pronunciation of “x”

Answer 61

This is the only real thorny letter for pronunciation, as the letter carries several different sounds, depending on the specific word. There really are no rules for this letter.

Most frequently, x = /ks/ as in English axe. examen (exam).
Sometimes (especially in older words), x = /x/, the sound of Spanish “j”. México. Occasionally, the letter takes the sound of /ʃ/ as the “sh” in English “ship”: Xela (a town in Guatemala). This will often be seen in words imported from Basque or Indigenous American languages. This sound is otherwise not found in Spanish (except in regional dialects).

Question 62

Pronunciation of “y”

Answer 62

= /j/, the y in English “yellow.”

yegua (mare), concluyeron (they finished, they concluded), rey (king)

Question 63

pronunciation of z

Answer 63

This letter carries the same sound as “soft c.” It varies according to region.
In about half of Spain (including Madrid), it sounds like the th in English “three.” Elsewhere, it sounds like the /s/ of English “Sam.”
zarzuela (Spanish traditional musical theater), conozco (I know), luz (light)