The following is intended to give you a general idea of Spanish pronunciation. Although not necessary for reading purposes, knowledge of the sounds is helpful if you also plan to speak the language.
The English words given below are not always exact equivalents of the Spanish sounds. When not, they are the closest approximation in English.
I. Vowels
Spanish vowels are pronounced quickly, clearly and sharply. They are never drawn out.
| a, as in “father” | amigo – friend casa – house |
| e, as in “café” | mesa – table leche – milk |
| i, as in “machine” | día – day yanqui – Yankee, American |
| o, as in “open” | lobo – wolf todo – all, everything |
| u, as in “rule” or “moon” | uno – a, an, one mucho – many, much |
II. Consonants
b and v (pronounced identically)
| As in “boy,” when occurring initially or after an n or m:
banco – bank, bench In all other positions, this sound is very weak and the lips do not touch, or do so only barely: Cuba – Cuba |
c
| As in “cat,” before a, o, and u:
cama – bed As in “sun,” before e and i: cinco – five In most of Spain, the ce– and ci– combinations are pronounces like the -th in “thin.” |
ch as in “chew”
| chico – boy, small ocho – eight |
d
| As in “dawn,” when occurring initially or after n and l: diez – ten donde – where andar – to walk aldea – villageAs in the th in “they” in all other positions: lado – side pared – wall ciudad – city tarde – late |
F, l, m, n, p and t are pronounced approximately as in English.
g
| As in “go,” when occurring before a,o, and u, or after a consonant: goma – rubber, tire ganar – to gain (to win, to earn) grande – great, largeAs in “house,” but stronger, when occurring before e and i: gente – people viaje – trip, voyage gitano – Gypsy |
h, always silent
| hacha – ax hora – hour, time coherente – coherent |
j, as in the h in “house,” but stronger (same sound as occurs in ge– and gi– combinations):
| jota – J (letter of alphabet) hija – daughter lujo – luxury |
k, as in English. Used only in foreign words.
ll, as in “million” or as in the y in “yes”:
| calle – street millón – million llover – to rain |
ñ, as in “canyon”:
| año – year español – Spanish panameño – Panamanian |
qu, always followed by e or i as in English k (the u is silent):
| cheque – check quizás – perhaps equis – X (letter of alphabet) |
r, pronounced by tapping the tip of the tongue against the gums of the upper front teeth:
| pero – but caro – expensive querer – to want, to love |
rr, or the single initial r, or after n and l, pronounced by trilling the tip of the tongue against the gums of the upper front teeth:
| perro – dog ron – rum honra – honor |
s
| Usually as in “see”: seis – six casa – house bastante – enoughAs in “rose,” when occurring before m, d, and g: mismo – same desde – since desgracia – misfortune |
w, as in English. Found only in foreign words.
x
| As in “see,” when not between vowels: extraño – strange explicar – to explain exclusivo – exclusiveAs in x in “exact,” when occurring between vowels: existir – to exist examinar – to examine éxito – success |
z, as in “see”:
| paz – peace cazar – to hunt zona – zone In most of Spain, the z is pronounced like the th in “thin.” |