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.
There’s more than one way to pronounce most of the letters, like the letters B, C or N.
If you want to avoid boring people to tears, if you want to hold a fluent conversation and not forcing people to put too much effort into it (so that people pay attention to you), you should be able to speak clearly.
And that’s far easier if you know how to produce the Spanish sounds. And if you learn (it barely takes 1 or 2 days) the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) so that you can pronounce any word in Spanish, even if it’s the first time you see it.
Today you’re going to see the Spanish abecedario and how to pronounce it:
- Examples of Spanish words for each Spanish sound.
- Examples of English words that contain that specific Spanish sound (or a similar one).
- Audio. Because if we speak about sounds you should be able to listen to them.
- A final image to summarize all the info.
When you pronounce Spanish, usually your mouth muscles are tenser than when you speak in English.
Pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet
Learning how to pronounce every single dialect of Spanish would be confusing (and it would take a lot of time) so I’m going to focus on Castilian Spanish -the standard European Spanish.
In order to make it easier I’ve substituted some of the symbols of the IPA. For example, we’ll use [ñ] for the letter Ñ instead of [ɲ]. Let’s keep things simple.
You are going to see examples of words containing each specific sound, in Spanish and in English.
If you find this symbol [∼] by the examples in English, it means that there is no word with the exact same sound in English. The example words contain a similar sound to the Spanish one (but not exactly the same one).
Letter A (a)
IPA symbol: [a]
Examples of Spanish words with the letter A:
alfabeto, casa, amiga
It’s pronounce like in:
∼ fun, fine
More info:
How to pronounce the Spanish vowels.
Letter B (be)
It can be pronounced in 2 different ways.
Pronunciation 1: Hard B
IPA symbol: [b]
It has a dry sound and it’s usually softer than the English B -it doesn’t explode.
Examples of Spanish words:
barco, hambre, cambio
Vive en Barcelona.
Lo hice con buena intención.
Examples of English words:
∼ bus, bean chamber, embrace
Pronunciation 2: Soft B
IPA symbol: [β]
The lips are not hermetically sealed. The sound is produced by letting escape from the mouth a trickle of air.
Examples of Spanish words:
abrir, hablar, abuelo
Me gustaría ir a Barcelona.
Examples of English words:
None
More info:
How to pronounce Spanish B and V.
Letter C (ce)
It can be pronounced in 3 different ways.
Pronunciation 1: Hard C
IPA symbol: [k]
Examples of Spanish words:
vaca, color, cuando
Examples of English words:
∼sock, fake
Pronunciation 2: Sof C
IPA symbol: [θ]
It sounds a little bit softer than in English (it doesn’t explode).
Examples of Spanish words:
hacer, cielo
Examples of English words:
thing, tooth
The sound is produced by the air getting out of your mouth, between the teeth and the tongue.
Pronunciation 3: ch
IPA symbol: [ʧ]
2 letters, 1 sound, like in English.
Examples of Spanish words:
ocho, chica, coche
Examples of English words:
∼ chair, coach
It sounds similar in English – not the same. In English, it sounds kind of “shhhh” (chshh), in Spanish it sounds more like “sssss” (chs).
Try lifting the tip of your tongue.
More info:
How to pronounce Spanish C.
Letter D (de)
It has 2 different pronunciations:
Pronunciation 1: Hard D
IPA symbol: [d]
Examples of Spanish words:
¿De dónde vienes, Aldo?
Pronunciation 2: Soft D
[ð]
Examples of Spanish words:
Tu padre viene después de desayunar.
Examples of English words:
this, those
Your tongue should be in the same position as when you pronounce the Spanish C (like in abecedario) but the sound is produced by vibrating the throat, not by blowing.
Touch it. You should notice that it vibrates.
*Here I wrote only the 2 official sounds but in colloquial speech, we may pronounce the letter D in up to 4+1 different ways! Or not pronounce it at all.
More info:
How to pronounce Spanish D.
Silent D.
Letter E
IPA symbol: [e]
Examples of Spanish words:
elefante, edad, este
Examples of English words:
∼ went, pay
More info:
How to produce the sound of the Spanish vowels.
Letter F (efe)
Most of the times we pronounce it as in English, but there are some exceptions:
Pronunciation 1: as in English
IPA symbol: We are going to use [f], since its the same sound as in English and you already have it associated.
Examples of Spanish words:
feo, frío, África
Examples of English words:
fox, affair
Pronunciation 2: as English V
IPA symbol: [v]
Examples of Spanish words:
Dafne, Afganistán, afgano
Examples of English words:
violin, available
Letter G (ge)
It has 3 different pronunciations:
Pronunciation 1: Raspier G
IPA symbol: [X]
Examples of Spanish words:
geografía, energía
Examples of English words: None
It’s like a raspier English H.
DRILL TIP: Pronounce the English H but lift your tongue a little bit, just as if you were going to pronounce the letter K.
Pronunciation 2: Hard G
IPA symbol: [g]
Examples of Spanish words:
gas, gol, engrasar
Examples of English words:
∼ gas, go, gate engage, English
Throaty sound. It doesn’t have the touch of [k] -like the English G in great.
Pronunciation 3: Soft G
IPA symbol: [ɣ]
Examples of Spanish words:
pagar, algo, agua
DRILL TIP: Imagine you have hairs in your palate and you have to caress it. The sound is produced when your tongue moves away from the palate.
More info:
Tips to pronounce Spanish G.
Letter H (hache)
IPA symbol: none, because its silent.
It only has a sound in words borrowed from other languages, like hamster or hockey.
Examples of Spanish words:
ahora, hielo, humo
Examples of English words:
hours, herb
Letter I (i)
There’re 2 ways of pronouncing this letter, and they sound almost the same.
Pronunciation 1: Regular
IPA symbol: [i]
Examples of Spanish words:
indio, limón, mira
Examples of English words:
∼ need, you
Pronunciation 2: in diphthongs
IPA symbol: [j]
You only find this sound in diphthongs.
viuda, viento, Indio
Examples of English words:
∼ yellow, yes
More info:
6 differences between English and Spanish vowels.
Letter J (jota)
IPA symbol: [X]
Examples of Spanish words:
caja, traje, cojín, abajo, jugar
It sounds like the Spanish G in geografía.
Letter K (ka)
IPA symbol: [k]
It sounds like the Spanish C in casa.
Examples of Spanish words:
koala, kiwi, kilómetro
Examples of English words:
∼sock, fake
Letter L (ele)
Expect 2 different pronunciations. The IPA established up to 5 different mouth positions for the letter L in Spanish, but you can’t hear the difference in sound.
You are going to see 2 different pronunciations and 4 different mouth positions (depending on the following letter), just to make the transition to the next sound smother.
Pronunciation 1
3 different mouth positions.
IPA symbol: [l]
Examples of Spanish words:
luego, lila, ala
It doesn’t sound like in ball or cable.
DRILL TIP: Your tongue doesn’t touch your front teeth at all.
IPA symbol: [l̪]
Examples of Spanish words:
alto, aldea, oculta
DRILL TIP: Your tongue is closer to your front teeth than the previous [lʲ] and may (barely) touch them. Even though the position of your tongue is slightly different, it sounds like [l].
IPA symbol: [l̟]
Examples of Spanish words:
alzar, calcio, calcetín
DRILL TIP: The tip of your tongue is placed where your upper teeth meet the gum. It sounds like [l] too.
Pronunciation 2: Double L
IPA symbol: [ʝ̞]
The double L sounds like Spanish Y.
Examples of Spanish words:
lluvia, olla, calla
Examples of English words:
∼ jeans, yes
Letter M (eme)
IPA symbol: [m]
Examples of Spanish words:
montaña, mamá, comer
Examples of English words:
mountain, mum
Letter N (ene)
Like the letter L, it has 4 different pronunciations, but you’re going to see 6 mouth positions, depending on the following letter.
Pronunciation 1: Regular
IPA symbol: [n]
Examples of Spanish words:
nido, andar, nana
Examples of English words:
name, now
IPA symbol: [n̟]
Examples of Spanish words:
once, quince, concierto
DRILL TIP: The tip of your tongue appears between your teeth.
IPA symbol: [n̪]
Examples of Spanish words:
andar, entrada, cantar
DRILL TIP: The tip of your tongue is placed where your upper teeth meet the gum.
Pronunciation 2: Before G or J [X]
IPA symbol: [ŋ]
Examples of Spanish words:
ancla, encontrar, inglés
Examples of English words:
bang, English
IPA symbol: [ɴ]
Examples of Spanish words:
enjaular, ángel, injerto
Guisantes con jamón.
DRILL TIP: You should put your tongue further back. Its position is the same when you pronounce the Spanish J but your throat must be closed so the air comes out through your nose.
Pronunciation 3: Before F
IPA symbol: [ɱ]
Examples of Spanish words:
enfriar, confiar, infravalorar
It is pronounced with your upper teeth and lower lip (like the letter F), to make the transition to the next sound smoother.
Pronunciation 4: like the letter M
IPA symbol: [m]
Examples of Spanish words:
envase, envidia, invitado
Examples of English words:
moon, comb
Letter Ñ (eñe)
IPA symbol: (we are going to substitute it for [ñ] because it easier to associate)
Examples of Spanish words:
uña, mañana, niño
The letter Ñ only exists in the Spanish language (however, it sounds like French “gn” or Portuguese “nh”).
It doesn’t sound as “n+i” (two sounds).
DRILL TIP: The middle part of the tongue touches the whole middle palate. The tip of the tongue doesn’t touch it. The sound is nasal and it’s produced when you separate your tongue from the upper palate*.
Before the actual sound -when your tongue is still touching the palate- you will hear a nasal N. You should keep that nasal sound when your tongue moves away from the palate.
Letter O (o)
IPA symbol: [o]
Examples of Spanish words:
oso, color, oro
Examples of English words:
∼ mall, talk
More info:
Tips to pronounce Spanish O.
Letter P (pe)
IPA symbol: [p]
Examples of Spanish words:
pelo, pantalón, piano
Examples of English words:
up, cap
It sounds close to English P -not the same.
More info:
How to pronounce Spanish P.
Letter Q (cu)
IPA symbol: [k]
The Spanish Q is always followed by the letter U, but the letter U is never pronounced.
And after the letter U only goes E or I (que, qui).
It sounds like the Spanish C in casa.
Examples of Spanish words:
queso, pequeño, quiero, aquí
Examples of English words:
∼sock, fake
Letter R (erre)
As you know, this letter has 2 different pronunciations:
Pronunciation 1: Soft R
IPA symbol: [r]
Examples of Spanish words:
caro, horno, arpa
∼bitter, butter (Am. EN)
It sounds like “tt” in butter (in American English).
Pronunciation 2: Double R (trilled)
IPA symbol: [R
Examples of Spanish words:
rueda, rubio
sonreir, alrevés
carro, perro, turrrón
All you need to roll your R’s (step by step).
DILL TIP: Call me crazy but, for some people, it’s easier to get the sound of rolled R if they do a headstand. Well… actually, it’s enough if you look down. (Gravity helps to keep your tongue on your palate).
Letter S (ese)
IPA symbol: [s]
Examples of Spanish words:
seta, salir, fiesta
Examples of English words:
see, soon
Letter T (te)
IPA symbol: [t]
Examples of Spanish words:
tener, tienda, tren
Examples of English words:
∼ football
More info:
How to pronounce Spanish T.
Letter U (u)
2 pronunciations slightly different, more for the mouth position than for the sound (like the letter I)
Pronunciation 1: Regular
IPA symbol: [u]
Examples of Spanish words:
luna, cuerda, uno
Examples of English words:
∼ moon, wet
Pronunciation 2: in diphthongs
IPA symbol: [w]
Examples of Spanish words:
abuelo, huevo, agua
Examples of English words:
∼ kiwi, web
More info:
Mouth positioning and how to pronounce Spanish U.
Letter V (uve)
Like the letter B, it has 2 different pronunciations:
Pronunciation 1: Hard V
IPA symbol: [b]
Like hard B.
Examples of Spanish words:
vela, viejo, video
envidia, envío, invitado
Examples of English words:
∼ bus, bean chamber, embrace
Pronunciation 2: Soft V
IPA symbol: [β]
Like Soft B.
Examples of Spanish words:
avión, uva, Eva
More info:
How to pronounce the letters B and V.
Letter W (uve doble)
Uve doble, double pronunciation.
Pronunciation 1: English W
IPA symbol: [w]
Examples of Spanish words (imported):
whisky, waterpolo, Hawai
Some Spaniards substitute this sound for a soft G (guaterpolo, Haguai)
Examples of English words:
∼ way, web
Pronunciation 2: like the letters B and V
IPA symbol: [b]
Examples of Spanish words (imported):
Wagner, Wamba
Examples of English words:
∼ brown, brave
Letter X (equis)
You can pronounce it in 2 ways.
Pronunciation 1: like the letter S
IPA symbol: [s]
Examples of Spanish words:
xilófono, xenofobia
Examples of English words:
sea, saw
Pronunciation 2: two sounds together
It’s the only Spanish letter that is pronounced like 2 sounds: [k] + [s].
It’s pronounce like in English.
Examples of Spanish words:
taxi, oxígeno, saxofón
Examples of English words:
taxi, oxygen, saxophone
Letter Y (ye o “i griega”)
Since a few years ago, the official name for the letter Y is “ye”, but a big part of Spaniards still call it “i griega” (greek i).
There are 2 different ways of pronouncing it. Or 3, but the 2 first are very similar.
Pronunciation 1: Stronger
IPA symbol: [ʝ̞]
It sounds like Spanish “ll”. At the beginning of the sentence, after N, or when you want to emphasize, it’s pronounced stronger.
Examples of Spanish words:
ya, cónyuge, inyección
Examples of English words:
∼jeans, yes
Pronunciation 2: Softer
IPA symbol: [ʝ̞]
Examples of Spanish words:
yoyó, vaya, ayer
DRILL TIP: Try to say jeans without crushing too much your tongue against the palate. If you hear “sh” sound, you went too far. Crush your tongue a little harder.
Pronunciation 3: like the vowel I
IPA symbol: [i]
Examples of Spanish words:
jersey, buey, rey
Examples of English words:
∼ yes, me
Letter Z (zeta)
2 way of pronouncing the Z.
Pronunciation 1: like a Soft C
Examples of Spanish words:
zapato, buzón, zumo
Examples of English words:
throw
Pronunciation 2: like a Soft D
IPA symbol: [ð]
Examples of Spanish words:
hazme, hallazgo
Examples of English words:
this, those
The 33 sounds of Spanish in short
European Spanish has 33 sounds.
However, there are 38 IPA symbols. Why are 4 extra symbols?
There are 2 sounds that natives produce in different parts of their mouth – depending on the following sound – for better flow: the sound of the letters N and L (see the table below).
The letters N and L may have a small symbol below: “ᴨ” or “+”.
- n̪, l̪: Dental sound.
“ᴨ” indicates that the sound is produced by placing your tongue where your upper teeth meet the gum. - n̟, l̟: Advanced sound.
“+” means that the letter is produced forward. For example, to pronounce [n̟] your tongue touches your lower teeth too (quince).
To practice the sounds of Spanish, you can follow the recommendations of these 5 experts to improve your pronunciation and listening.