Pronunciation of the Spanish Alphabet: 27 Letters, 33 Sounds, 37 Mouth Positions (with audio)

How to pronounce the letter of the spanish alphabet words sounds like a native the ultimate guide for english speakers

One of the first things we learn when we study a foreign language is the alphabet – perfect, we can spell but can you pronounce the letters of the alphabet accurately?

There are different reasons why you have a terrible accent but most of the mispronunciations are the consequence of reading a symbol (letter) and saying it as we’d do in our native language.

And it’s very tough to shut that association (letter-sound) off.

For example, most English natives pronounce the letter B in “la bota” (SP) as the English B in “a boat” (EN) (error!)

Your brain did the effort to learn this association a long time ago, and now, when you see the letter B, you don’t think how to pronounce it.

Your mouth produces the sound automatically.

The problem is that English, Vietnamese, or Spanish native speakers read and pronounce multiple letters in a different way so you’re likely to produce the wrong sound if you speak in Spanish or any other foreign language.

Spanish is not a phonetic language

You probably heard that, in Spanish, we pronounce the words as we spell them.
It’s a lie.

Some people may disagree and they will say “Spanish is a phonetic language” -and they’re quite right. Nonetheless, less than half of the letters of the Spanish alphabet are always pronounced the way they’re written.

It’s mathematics:

  • The Spanish alfabeto has 27 letters.
  • There are, at least, 33 sounds in (European/Castillian) Spanish, so
  • Some letters are pronounced in 2 -or more- different ways, and
  • Some letters are pronounced the same way.

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Letters B and V in Spanish

how to say letter B in spanish pronounce spanish v letter differently from english V and B with examples

Pronunciation of letter B and letter V in Spanish

In Spanish, the letters B and V have the same pronunciation, but it changes depending on their position in a word (or sentence).

However, most of Spanish natives don’t realize that they pronounce them in 2 different ways -and none of them sounds as in English.

Lots of kids have spelling problems with these 2 letters because they are pronounced the same.

Natives can normally guess what you mean if you pronounce them wrong but the pronunciation of the letters V and B tells apart Spanish native speakers. And mispronouncing them may cause some misunderstandings since English B sounds similar to the Spanish letter P -you have some examples at the end of the post.

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Spanish Hiatus – Examples and How to Pronounce them

Spanish hiatus hiatos when to separate vowels in different syllables con ejemplos with examples of hiatuses

Spanish Hiatus – Examples + When to Separate the Vowels

Have you ever tried to say a Spanish word but it sounded weird and you didn’t know why?

For years I tried to say in English the word “pronunciation” accurately. I used to produce every single sound quite clearly but the word still sounded strange and I didn’t understand the reason.

I wasn’t able to say that word without such a terrible Spanish accent.

Nobody told me that I was doing wrong.

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Spanish Vowels vs English Vowels + Tips to Pronounce them like a Native Speaker

How to pronounce the Spanish vowels, that are different from English vowels

Spanish vowels – What do they sound like? How to pronounce them like a native speaker?

Did you know that almost half of the sounds we pronounce when speaking Spanish are vowels?

In Spanish, vowels are the most important part of a word. If you pronounce them wrong, it’ll be difficult to understand.

In this post, you’ll find:

  • The main difference between English and Spanish vowels.
  • How to pronounce each Spanish vowel correctly.
  • Comparison between English and Spanish vowel sounds.
  • A bit of mouth positioning + images to help you understand the position of your mouth.
  • Examples of English words that contain vowel sounds similar to the Spanish ones (remember no single vowel sounds the same in English and Spanish).

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Spanish Diphthongs & Triphthongs – with examples

Spanish diphthongs and triphthongs

Spanish Diphthongs & Triphthongs – When to pronounce the vowels in the same syllable + Examples

Diphthong, triphthong, hiatus… These words sound complicated.

Why are they so important?

Why do you need to know how to recognize them? Actually, you don’t need it; unless you want to pronounce Spanish correctly, of course!

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