4 Topic 2 The Alphabet
Guide to Pronunciation
The Spanish alphabet is very similar to the English alphabet with the exception of ñ. The pronunciation of each letter is precise, and the pronunciation of the words is produced by adding the sounds of each individual letter.
The VowelsA a Like in father E e Like in olé I i Like in pizza O o Like in cold U u Like in rude |
EXCEPTIONSC c celery and cilantro G g hello and history H h silent J (h) hi! ll (y) yes ñ (ny) canyon qu (k) king v (b) burro z (s) sail |
| Letra | Nombre | Ejemplos |
| A | a | Panamá, Caracas |
| B | be | Bogotá, Bolivia |
| C | ce | (before a, o, or u like the English {k}:) Cancún, Colombia (before e or i like the English {s}:) celery, cilantro |
| Ch | che | Chile, Machu Pichu |
| D | de | domingo, diciembre |
| E | e | Ecuador, enero |
| F | efe | febrero |
| G | ge | (before a, o, or u like the English {g}:) gato, Gustavo, Gómez
(before e or i like the English {h}:) generoso, Gibraltar |
| H | hache | Honduras, hermano (SILENT) |
| I | i | isla, invierno |
| J | jota | {h} junio, jueves |
| K | ka | kayak, kiwi |
| L | ele | lunes, Lima |
| Ll | elle | quesadilla, llave |
| M | eme | marzo, mayo |
| N | ene | noviembre, norte |
| Ñ | eñe | España, niño |
| O | o | octubre, otoño |
| P | pe | Perú, primavera |
| Q | cu | (only in combinations of QUE or QUI) qué, quién |
| R | ere | Rosa, república |
| S | ese | sábado, septiembre |
| T | te | tener, tú, |
| U | u | universo, universidad |
| V | ve | (like the English {b}:) viernes, verano |
| W | doble v | (only in words of foreign origin like:) Washington, William |
| X | equis | (like the English x:) México |
| Y | ye | Yo, Yolanda |
| Z | zeta | (like the English {s}:) azul, zona |
Cognates and Pronunciation Practice
Practícalo
Some words in Spanish are long and might have some letter combinations that you are not familiar with or are not found in the English language.
Syllables are important for knowing how the letters combine together for correct pronunciation, as well as when a word may need an orthographic accent or not.
As often as possible, create each syllable with a consonant followed by a vowel.
sá’-ba-do
ma’-no
ca’-ra
The cognates* list below, will facilitate the pronunciation in Spanish and help you identify some words you already know from their English counterparts.
*Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation.
| fa-bu-lo-so | de-li-ci-o-so |
| ma-ra-vi-llo-so | ner-vi-o-so |
| mag-ní-fi-co | es-tú-pi-do |
| cu-rio-so | re-li-gi-o-so |
| po-pu-lar | fu-rio-so |
| fan-tás-ti-co | a-par-ta-men-to |
Practícalo
What is the most important name in the world?
Write your first name and look for the name of each letter.
Spell your name in Spanish.
Ejemplo: ¿Cómo te llamas? Me llamo Anita. A-ene-i-te-a. ¿Cómo te llamas?
