15 BASIC RULES
OF THE
SPANISH LANGUAGE
&
RULES OF PRONUNCIATION
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#1
There are 5 vowels sounds in Spanish:
 -a (ah);
 -e (eh);
 -i (ee);
 -o (oh);
 -u (oo).
When reading in Spanish, every vowel is pronounced, in
every word, all the time!
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#2
If the word ends in
a vowel,
vowel+n or
vowel+s,
then the next to the last syllable must be
stressed: epiSOdio (episode), LIbro (book).
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#3
Otherwise, the last syllable is stressed: caLOR
(heat), verDAD (truth), paPEL (paper).
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#4
If the word contains an accent mark (´), then
ignore the previous rules.
An accent mark always indicates the stressed
syllable: HÁbito (habit), LÁser (laser), BÍceps
(biceps), liBRÓ (he/she/it saved somebody
from something), inGLÉS (English).
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#5
There are four singular articles in Spanish: el,
la, un, una and four plural articles: los, las,
unos, unas.
All go before the noun to indicate its gender and
number.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#6
Nouns are either masculine or feminine.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#7
Masculine nouns (usually) end in
-o;
-e;
-y;
-u;
-l;
-n; or
-r.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#8
Feminine nouns (usually) end in
-a;
-ian;
-tad,
-dad; or
-umbre.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#9
To make a noun plural just add
“-s” to a vowel or
“-es” to a consonant.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#10
Subject pronouns are placed before the verb.
(except in questions)
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#11
Spanish verbs in the infinitive form either
end in -ar; -er; or -ir.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#12
Each verb tense has its own ending for each
subject pronoun. First, second, and third
person; singular/plural.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#13
Some verbs are irregular and their conjugations
must be memorized individually.
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#14
Adjectives in Spanish are placed after the noun
(usually).
BASIC RULES OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
#15
Adjectives, nouns, and pronouns MUST ALL
agree in both number and gender.
VOWELS
There are five vowels in the Spanish alphabet,
the same as in English: a, e, i, o and u.
They have only one possible pronunciation each.
A = ah
E = eh
I = ee
O = oh
U = oo
Z
The letter z may sound like s in “see” (Hispanic
American accents) or like th in “thin”
(standard Spaniard accent).
C
The letter c sounds like the Spanish z (i.e, like s
or th, depending on the country) when it
comes before e or i, and like c in “cat” in any
other case.
Q
The letter q always sounds like c in “cat”. Almost
always, it is followed by a silent u, and is used
with i or e only. Exceptions are some Latin or
foreign words.
J
The letter j may sound like h in “hot” (Hispanic
America) or like ch in the Scottish word “loch”
(Spain).
G
The letter g sounds like the Spanish j when it
comes before e/i, and like g in “got” in any
other case. Also:
For g to sound like g in “got” before e/i, it must
be followed by a silent u, as in guitarra (guitar).
But… what if we want to force the pronunciation
of the u in gue/gui? Then, you must put a
diaeresis (¨) over it, as in pingüino (penguin).
H
The letter h is always silent. So, Hola (hello) and
ola (wave) have exactly the same
pronunciation.
Y
The letter y sounds like j in “jet” when it is
placed at the beginning of a syllable: yo
(I), mayo (May), and like y in “very” in any
other case: y (and), muy (very).
LL
The letter ll also sounds like j in “jet”, although in
some regions may have a sound similar to y in
“yet”.
R
The letter r sounds like tt in “matter” (with USA
accent) when:
it is not at the beginning of a syllable, e.g.,
brazo (arm), tren (train), or when
it is placed between two vowels: pero (but),
Corea (Korea).
In any other case it sounds as a strongly trilled r
(again, Scottish style), i.e., at the beginning of
a word, and after n, l, s, or some prefix: rápido
(fast), honrado (honest), alrededor (around),
Israel (Israel), subrayado (underlined).
RR
The rr is used to force a strongly trilled r
between two vowels, e.g., perro (dog),
correa (leash).
W
The letter w is only used in foreign words, and its
sound resembles the original foreign sound.
Basically, it may sound like a Spanish b
(Wagner) or like an English w (Washington).
Ñ
The letter ñ represents a nasal palatal phoneme,
which is a sound that does not exist in English.
It is commonly said that ñ is pronounced like n
in “canyon” or in “onion”.
That is just a useful approximation, at best.
Actually, you should press the roof of your
mouth with the middle of your tongue (the tip
of it could simply rest behind your lower teeth).
Only then, in this position, you could try a
short /ny/ sound that sort of blends with the
next vowel.
STRESS
One last thing you should learn is how to identify
the stressed syllable in any word you read.
Three simple rules will suffice:
STRESS
1. If the word ends in a vowel, vowel+n or
vowel+s, then the next to the last syllable
must be stressed: epiSOdio (episode), LIbro
(book), INgles (groins).
STRESS
2. Otherwise, the last syllable is stressed: caLOR
(heat), verDAD (truth), paPEL (paper).
STRESS
3. If the word contains an acute accent mark (´),
then ignore the previous rules, as an accent
mark always indicates the stressed syllable:
HÁbito (habit), LÁser (laser), BÍceps (biceps),
liBRÓ (he/she/it saved somebody from
something), inGLÉS (English).
PRACTICE
La jirafa cazadora
bebía gazpacho muy
frío y cantaba bajo la
lluvia.
PRACTICE
El victorioso guerrero
llevaba un hacha que
pesaba nueve
kilogramos.
PRACTICE
Un frágil zorro
pedigüeño viajó ayer
en taxi.
PRACTICE
Tu amigo japonés
prepara agua, arroz y
guindas en la cocina.