Vowels
Here is some good news for you: Spanish vowels are pronounced one way, and only one way. In the English language, one vowel may be pronounced several different ways. Not so in Spanish. Every vowel is always pronounced the same way. Another good thing is that the five vowels are the only vowel sounds in Spanish. That means no "sometimes 'y,'" like in the English language.
Let's take a look at the five Spanish vowels.
A - (AH)
E - (EH)
I - (EE)
O - (OH)
U - (OO)
Once you get these five simple sounds down, you'll be well on your way to speaking Spanish like a native. Let's look at each vowel a little closer.
A
The Spanish vowel 'A' (AH) is pronounced like the 'A' in the English words "fall," "call," and "mall." It is represented by 'AH' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Keep in mind that an 'A' is always pronounced like this, no matter where it is located in a word. Here are some examples of Spanish words containing 'A'
cama (KAH-mah) - bed
casa (KAH-sah) - house
mapa (MAH-pah) - map
E
The Spanish vowel 'E' (EH) is pronounced like the 'E' in the English words "ten," "when," and "then." It is represented by 'EH' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are some examples of Spanish words containing 'E'
pelo (PEH-loh) - hair
leche (LEH-cheh) - milk
verde (VEHR-deh) - green
I
The Spanish vowel 'I' (EE) is pronounced like the 'EE' in the English words "teen," "seen," and "queen." It is represented by 'EE' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are some examples of Spanish words containing 'I'
libre (LEE-breh) - free
vida (VEE-dah) - life
gris (GREES) - gray
O
The Spanish vowel 'O' is pronounced like the 'O' in the English words "hope," "cope," and "rope." It is represented by 'OH' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are some examples of Spanish words containing 'O'
morado (moh-RAH-doh) - purple
octavo (ohk-TAH-voh) - eighth
poco (POH-koh) - a small amount
U
The Spanish vowel 'U' is pronounced like the 'OO' in the English words "moon," "boot," and "soon." It is represented by 'OO' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are some examples of Spanish words containing 'U'
pura (POO-rah) - pure
muslo (MOOS-loh) - thigh
fruta (FROO-tah) - fruit
Consonants
Want some more good news? Many of the consonants in the Spanish language are pronounced exactly like they are in English. The consonants that are pronounced the same in both languages are 'B,' 'D,' 'F,' 'K,' 'L,' 'M,' 'N,' 'P,' 'R,' 'T,' 'V,' 'W,' 'X,' and 'Y.' See, you already know how to pronounce the majority of the letters in the Spanish language.
Now we will get into the differences in pronunciation of the letters that are slightly different, which are 'C,' 'G,' 'H,' 'J,' 'Q,' 'S,' and 'Z.' We will also explain the pronunciation of the Spanish letter 'Ñ,' along with the double consonants 'LL' and 'RR.' Let's have a look.
C
When using the letter 'C' in front of the vowels 'A,' 'O,' or 'U,' it takes the sound of the English letter 'K.' In this case it is represented by 'K' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
casa (KAH-sah) - house
caro (KAH-roh) - expensive
claro (KLAH-roh) - light
When using the letter 'C' in front of the vowels 'E' or 'I,' it takes the sound of the English letter 'S.' In this case it is represented by 'S' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
cero (SEH-roh) - zero
cena (SEH-nah) - supper
cine (SEE-neh) - cinema
G
When using the letter 'G' in front of a consonant or the vowels 'A,' 'O,' and 'U,' it takes the sound of the English letter 'G' as in the words "gate," "gold," and "go." In this case it is represented by 'G' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
gracias (GRAH-seeahs) - thank you
grande (GRAHN-deh) - large
gato (GAH-toh) - cat
When using the letter 'G' in front of the vowels 'E' or 'I,' it takes the sound of the English letter 'H' as in the words "hello," "high," and "hot." In this case it is represented by 'H' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
gerente (heh-REHN-teh) - manager
general (heh-neh-RAHL) - general
ginebra (hee-NEH-brah) - gin
Unfortunately there is one more twist to the letter 'G.' When the letters 'GU' are followed by 'E' or 'I,' it takes the sound of the English letter 'G' as in the words "gate," "gold," and "go." In this case it is represented by 'G' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
guerra (GEH-RRAH) - war
guinda (GEEN-dah) - burgundy
gueto (GEH-toh) - ghetto
H
The Spanish letter 'H' is a very easy letter to learn how to pronounce. Simply put, it is always silent. Always. All you have to do is not pronounce it when you see it in a word. That's it. Here are a few examples
hombre (OHM-breh) - man
hora (OH-rah) - hour
hoy (OHY) - today
J
The Spanish letter 'J' sounds like an English hard 'H.' By this I mean it sounds like you are trying to push out more air than normal when saying and English 'H.' It is represented by 'H' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
tijera (tee-HEH-rah) - scissors
jadeo (hah-DEHoh) - painting
hija (EE-hah) - daughter
Ñ
The Spanish letter 'Ñ' sounds like the English letter combination 'NY,' like in the name of the country Kenya. It is represented by 'NY' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
niño (NEE-nyoh) - boy
niña (NEE-nyah) - girl
piña (PEE-nyah) - pineapple
Q
The Spanish letter 'Q,' when used in combination with 'U' makes an English 'K' sound, like in the words "king" and "ketchup." This letter combination is used in front of the Spanish vowels 'E' and 'I.' It is represented by 'K' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
pequeño (peh-KEH-nyoh) - small
queso (KEH-soh) - cheese
quinto (KEEN-toh) - fifth
S & Z
The Spanish letters 'S' and 'Z' always take the sound of the English letter 'S,' like in the words "song," "such," and "sorry." They are represented by 'S' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
sol (SOHL) - sun
menos (MEH-nohs) - less
seco (SEH-koh) - dry
LL
The Spanish double consonant 'LL' always takes the sound of the English letter 'Y,' like in the words "you," "young," and "yard." This double consonant is treated as one letter in the Spanish language, which means that you never give it the sound of two separate 'L's. It is represented by 'Y' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
lluvia (YOO-veeah) - rain
frutilla (froo-TEE-yah) - strawberry
llave (YAH-veh) - key
RR
The Spanish double consonant 'RR' is very similar to the Spanish letter 'R.' The only difference is that 'RR' is strongly rolled or trilled. When you see a 'RR' in a Spanish word, you pronounce it as if there were only one 'R,' and you roll that 'R.' This double consonant is also treated as one letter in the Spanish language, so it is never split up into two 'R's. It is represented by 'RR' when showing the pronunciation in a word. Here are a few examples
tierra (teeEH-rrah) - land
pantorrilla (pahn-toh-RREE-yah) - calf
carro (KAH-rroh) - car
Emphasis
There is one syllable in every Spanish word that is stressed or emphasized. You may have already figured out that the syllable in the pronunciation guides that is capitalized is the syllable that gets the stress. You are about to learn how to figure out which syllable to stress in different kinds of Spanish words.
Obviously if a word has only one syllable, that is the syllable that gets the emphasis. It's a little trickier when a word has two or more syllables. Let's take a look at a few ways to find the stressed syllable in a word.
1. If a word ends in a vowel, an 'N,' or an 'S,' the next to last syllable gets the stress. Here are a couple of examples
casa (KAH-sah) - house
blanco (BLAHN-koh) - white
camas (KAH-mahs) - beds
2. If a word ends in any consonant other than 'N' or 'S,' the last syllable of the word gets the emphasis. Here are a couple of examples
gustar (goos-TAHR) - to like
imprimir (eem-pree-MEER) - print
llamar (yah-MAHR) - call
3. Unfortunately there is a small exception to these two rules. This occurs when there is an accent mark ( ` ) on a syllable in a word. The good thing about this is when there is an accent mark, that syllable automatically gets the stress. You don't have to try to figure out which syllable to emphasize, because the accent mark tells you which one. Here are a few examples
aquí (ah-KEE) - here
hígado (EE-gah-doh) - liver
melón (meh-LOHN) - melon
Dipthongs
Basically, "dipthong" means double sound. You have encountered several dipthongs already in several of the examples given above. In the Spanish language, and dipthong is a combination of two vowels together in a word, such as the 'UE' in bueno, the Spanish word for good.
Spanish dipthongs are always made up of a "strong" vowel and a "weak" vowel. A strong vowel means it dominates the dipthong, where the weak vowel does not get as much of the pronunciation or emphasis. The vowels 'A,' 'E,' and 'O' are considered strong vowels, leaving 'I' and 'U' as weak vowels. Using bueno (booEH-noh) as an example again, the 'U' is the weak vowel, with 'E' being the strong vowel. Therefore, the 'E' is heard much stronger than the 'U,' giving the word a "BWEH" sound. The pronunciation could be written as (BWEH-noh), and it would be pronounced correctly. Here are a few more examples
fuera (fooEH-rah) - outside
huevo (oohEH-voh) - egg
jueves (hoohEH-vehs) - Thursday
When two "strong" vowels are used in combination in a Spanish word, they do not for a dipthong. Each strong vowel in the combination keeps its separate value. In this case each vowel is pronounced as a separate syllable, unlike a dipthong. Here are a few examples
feo (FEH-oh) - ugly
marea (mah-REH-ah) - tide
When there is an accent mark used in a dipthong, it is treated the same as any other time. It shows you which vowel to stress in the dipthong. This is used in the case of a word where the weak vowel is stressed instead of the strong vowel. Here are a few examples
adiós (ah-deeOHS) - good bye
día (DEEah) - day
tío (TEEoh) - uncle
Now that you have a handle on the pronunciation of Spanish consonants and vowels, we'll move on to some basic grammar and sentence structure.
