Just like in English, Spanish has its own sounds and ways to pronounce letters.
Vowels
Spanish uses the same five vowels as English: a, e, i, o and u.
Listen to the clips below to hear how the vowels are pronounced in Spanish.
Here are some examples of how to use the vowel sounds when pronouncing Spanish words:
Vowel | Example | English |
---|---|---|
a | Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | spider |
e | Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | elephant |
i | Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | island |
o | Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | eleven |
u | Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | one |
Exception sounds
Spanish is an exciting language to learn but there are a few exception sounds you need to be aware of:
帽 - This is pronounced as 鈥榥y鈥
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - Spain
ll - This is pronounced as a 鈥榶鈥
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - my name is鈥
v - This is pronounced as a 鈥榖鈥
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - twenty
j - This is pronounced as a 鈥榟鈥
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - June
h - This letter is always silent
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - hamburger
Cognates
You might have also noticed that in Spanish many of the words look or sound like they would in English.
Here are some examples:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - garage
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - guitar
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. - chocolate
The Spanish alphabet
The Spanish alphabet has many of the same letters as the English alphabet but some are pronounced differently.
Have a look at the table to see Spanish alphabet in full:
Letter | Name of letter in Spanish |
---|---|
a | ah |
b | bay |
c | theh |
d | deh |
e | eh |
f | efeh |
g | heh |
h | acheh |
I | ee |
j | hota |
k | kah |
l | eleh |
m | emeh |
n | eneh |
帽 | enyay |
o | oh |
p | peh |
q | cuh |
r | ere |
s | essay |
t | teh |
u | uhh |
v | uuveh |
w | uuveh dobleh |
x | ekis |
y | ye |
z | theta |
You can learn about Spanish pronunciation here.