Spelling and pronunciation in Spanish
The alphabet:
A/a
(A) Like the 'a' in "father"
B/b
(Be) Somewhere between the English "B" & "V", without touching the teeth to
the lip
C/c
(Ce) Like a "k" before 'a', 'o', 'u' or a consonant; but before 'e' or 'i' it's pronounced
like the 's' in "sing" in Spanish America and like the 'th' in "thing" in Spain
Ch/ch (Che) Like the 'ch' in "church"
D/d (De) Like the 'd' in "dog" but with the tongue behind the teeth
E/e
(E) Like the 'e' in "met"
F/f
(Efe) Like the the 'f' in "fire" (never like a ‘v’)
G/g (Ge) Like 'g' in "go" before 'a', 'o', 'u' or a consonant; like hard 'h' before 'e' or 'i'
H/h (Hache) Always silent in Spanish
I/i
(I /i latina) Somewhere between the 'i' in "machine" and the 'i' in "hit"
J/j
(Jota) Like a hard English 'h', similar to blowing on glasses; silent at the end of a
word
K/k (Ka) Like the 'k' in "king" but rarely used in Spanish
L/l
(Ele) Like the 'l' in "love"
Ll/ll (Elle) Depending on dialect, like the 'y' in "yellow", like the second 'g' in
"garage", or like the 'lli' in "million"
M/m (Eme) Like the 'm' in "mother"
N/n (Ene) Like the 'n' in "north"
Ñ/ñ (Eñe) Like the 'ny' in "canyon"
O/o (O) Like the 'o' in "hope"
P/p
(Pe) Like the 'pp' in "hippo"
Q/q (Cu) Always followed by 'u'--'Qu' is pronounced like a 'k' (not 'kw') and is only
used before 'e' or 'i'
R/r
(Ere) At the beginning or end of a word or before a consonant, a trilled 'r' made
by curling the tongue; after a consonant or between vowels, similar to the 'tt' in
"butter" said fast
Rr/rr (Erre) Used in the middle of a word to represent the trilled 'r' made by curling the
tongue
S/s
(Ese) Like the 's' in "single" (never like a 'z')
T/t
(Te) Like the 't' in "top" said with the tongue behind the teeth
U/u (U) Somewhere between the 'oo' in "mood" and the 'oo' in "good"
V/v (Ve/uve) Depending on dialect, like the 'v' in "very" or the same as the Spanish 'b'
W/w (Doble u/doble v) Like the 'w' in "water" but rarely used in Spanish.
X/x (Equis) Like the 'x' in "exit"; In "México" and many Mexican place names, it is
usually pronounced like a hard 'h' (some pronounce it like a 'sh')
Y/y (I griega) Depending on dialect, like the 'y' in "yellow" or like the second 'g' in
"garage" at the beginning of a word; at the end of a word, same as the Spanish 'i'
Z/z
(Ceta) Like an 's' in "sing" in Spanish America and like the 'th' in "thing" in
Spain; generally used only before 'a', ’o’, 'u', or at the end of a word
Accents and stress:
There are 3 accent marks in Spanish:
The Tilde (~), which is put over the 'n' to make "ñ"
The Diéresis, or umlaut (2 dots), placed over the 'u' after the 'g' in certain circumstances,
as explained later (güe/güi)
The acute accent placed over the vowel (á; é; í; ó; ú) for one of 3 reasons:
1) To change the meaning of a word (si = if /sí = yes)
2) To change which syllable is stressed, as explained later
3) To break up a diphthong, as explained later
How to know which syllable is stressed
In Spanish, just like in English, every word can be divided into units of sound
called syllables. For example, in English the word “celebration” can be divided into four
syllables: ce-le-bra-tion; in Spanish the same is true of "celebración": ce-le-bra-ción.
Some words have only one syllable: English "yes" and "no", for example, and in Spanish,
"sí" and "no". In a word that has more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed,
that is, emphasized more than the others, when the word is spoken. In English, you simply
have to know the word, but in Spanish there are clear rules that will help you know which
syllable to stress.
These are the rules for stress when there is no acute accent present:


If the word ends with 's', 'n' or a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), you stress the second to last
syllable. For example, exAMen; CRIsis; BOca; intereSANte; somBREro.
If the word ends in a consonant other than 's' or 'n' (this includes 'y'), you stress the last
syllable. For example, relOJ; musiCAL; temOR; ParaGUAY; feLIZ.
If there is an acute accent, you stress the syllable that has the accent.
(Sometimes single syllable words such as "sí" or "té" or interrogative words such as
"cómo" or "dónde" have accents even though the pronunciation is not affected. In such
cases, the accent changes the meaning of the word.)
For example, celebraCIÓN; corTÉS; ÁRbol; LÁpiz; coMIÓ; habLÉ; RÁpido
Vowel combinations
The beauty of Spanish is that while it can be tough to go through all the various
ways to pronounce vowel combinations in English and French, such combinations in
Spanish actually make sense. To understand how to pronounce multiple vowels, you first
need to know that the vowels in Spanish can be divided into strong vowels and weak
vowels:
STRONG VOWELS: A, E, O
WEAK VOWELS: I, U (sometimes Y)
When two strong vowels are seen together, they are pronounced as separate
syllables, and their pronunciation is exactly the same as the name of the letter.
For example:
A-a-rón; ca-er; Bil-ba-o; fe-a; le-er; le-o; lo-ar; o-es-te;
co-or-din-ar.
However, when two weak vowels or a strong vowel and a weak vowel are
combined, they come together to form a combined vowel sound called a diphthong.
Diphthongs in Spanish actually make since. For example, if you take the Spanish
'a' sound and the Spanish 'i' sound and say them together fast, it sounds like the 'i' in "like".
That is exactly how you pronounce the combination "ai" (or "ay") in Spanish.
Note the following combinations:
I + another vowel ('i' pronounced like the 'y' in "yellow")
ia: like 'ya': gracia
ie: like the 'ye' in "yet: siento
io: like 'yo': rubio
iu: like English "you": viuda
U + another vowel ('u' pronounced like the 'w' in "water")
ua: like 'wah': agua; guapo ue
ue: like the 'we' in"wet" puerco; hueso (u+vowel diphthongs start with 'h' at the
beginning of a word)
ui: like "we": intuir; muy (diphthongs ending in 'i' change 'i' to 'y' at the end of a word)
uo: like "woe": antiguo; inicuo
('que', 'qui', 'gue', and 'gui' are exceptions, as explained later)
Other diphthongs:
ai: like the 'i' in "like": caigo; hay
au: like "ow" when you get hurt: aumentar; flauta
ei: like the 'ai' in "paint": veinte; treinta;
eu: combine the two vowel sounds into one: deuda
oi: like the 'oi' in "oil": oigo; soy
It is also possible to have a triphthong in which three vowel sounds combine into
one. Triphthongs occur when the first and last of three vowels are weak vowels (i, u, y).
For example, guau; buey; Uruguay.
When the strong vowel in a diphtong has an acute accent, the diphthong remains
together, and the syllable with the diphthong is stressed. For example, ce-le-bra-CIÓN;
hab-LÁIS. However, if there is an acute accent on the weak vowel, then you break up
the diphthong and pronounce each vowel separately, putting the stress on the weak vowel
('i' or 'u').
For example: Ma-RÍ-a; ac-TÚ-a; a-ÚN; ca-Í-da; o-ÍR; MÍ-o.
Explanation of the rules for 'C', 'Qu', and 'Z':
The letter 'c' in Spanish, just like in English, has a hard sound and a soft sound.
The hard sound is like a 'k'. The soft sound is like an 's' in Spanish America and like the
'th' in "thing" in Spain. 'C' has the hard sound before 'a', 'o', 'u', or a consonant: Clamor;
creer; caliente; cobarde; culebra.
'C' has its soft sound before 'e' or 'i': celebración; cinturón; dulce; cien.
(These are the same rules usually followed in Engish, with rare exceptions like
"Caesar.")
The combination 'qu' is pronounced like a 'k' and is only used before 'e' or 'i':
queso; quinto; toque; quiero.
The letter 'z', which corresponds to the soft pronunciation of 'c', is pronounced like
an 's' in Spanish America and like the 'th' in "thing" in Spain. Except in a few names (such
as "Ezequiel"), the letter 'z' only appears before 'a', 'o', 'u', or at the end of a word, but not
before 'e' or 'i'. Zapato; zorro; zurdo; azúcar; lanza; lápiz; feliz.
Native speakers of Spanish often misspell words with 'z' or a soft 'c', spelling them
with 's', which in Spanish America sounds the same.
Explanation of the rules for 'G' and 'J'
The letter 'j' is pronounced like a hard 'h' in Spanish. 'J' can come before any
vowel: Jaula; garaje; jícama; rojo; brújula. It is silent at the end of a word: reloj.
The letter 'g', like 'c', has a hard sound and a soft sound. The hard sound is like the
'g' in "go". The soft sound is like a hard 'h' and sounds exactly like the Spanish 'j'. As
with 'c', the letter 'g' gets its hard sound before 'a', 'o', 'u', or a consonant: global; gringo;
gato; gordo; agudo.
'G' has its soft sound before 'e' or 'i': general; gigante.
In order to get the hard 'g' sound before 'e' or 'i', a 'u' is placed in between, so that
the combinations 'gue' and 'gui' are pronounced like the 'ge' in "get" and the 'gi' in "gismo",
respectively: Guerra; guitarra; distinguir. On the other hand, in 'gua' and 'guo', the 'u' is
pronounced according to the rules for diphtongs: guapo; antiguo.
However, in order to pronounce the 'u' (like a 'w') between 'g' and 'e' or between 'g'
and 'i', a diéresis (two dots) is added on top of the 'u'. Therefore, güe is pronounced like
'gweh' and güi like 'gwih'. Güero; bilingüe; antigüedad; pingüino.