The Spanish alphabet is
similar to the English alphabet. It has an additional letter “Ñ” (see below).
In addition, certain combinations of letters occur so frequently, and have a
unique pronunciation, such that they are treated like a separate letter, but they
are not. These are: CH, LL, and RR.
(again, see below). Please memorize the Spanish names of the letters. We
will use the Spanish alphabet to spell words. With time, the names of the
letters will be quite familiar to you.
Spanish pronunciation is easier
than English because words are pronounced as written according to the following
rules. You learn the rules and the pronunciation is straightforward. English
pronunciation is much harder. Look at this English sentence: “Though
tired, the tough policeman went through the forest
and hit the bough of a tree that injured his head so he bought
a band-aid.” What a nightmare it is to explain to a
foreigner how to pronounce words that end in ‘-ough”. This doesn’t happen in Spanish.
Here is “el alfabeto
español.” The grey boxes describe differences from the English alphabet.
VOWELS: In Spanish, each
vowel has a SINGLE pronunciation, which is the SAME every time you see that
letter. In English, the letter A alone has at least 4 pronunciations, e.g. BAT,
GATE, FATHER, ABOUT. In Spanish, the letter A is ALWAYS pronounced like the A
in FATHER. The BIGGEST challenge for
English speakers is to forget all the other ways to pronounce A so that is
ALWAYS sounds like the A in FATHER. The same is true for other vowels as
described below. In the early weeks of
learning Spanish, I become a VOWEL POLICEMAN and will correct your vowels mercilessly
anytime you deviate from these basic rules.
Using a whip is not out of the question.
Memorize the names of the letters and the Rule; We
will use Spanish names of letters when Spelling
Letter
|
English Equivalent
|
Examples
|
A (ah)
|
Like A in Father
|
Hola (hello); Gato (cat);
mano (hand);
|
B (beh grande)
|
The letters B and V sound the same in Spanish, somewhere between
the two
|
Bola (ball); Ven (come); bate (bat); vino (wine); banco (bank)
|
C (seh)
|
Hard C same as in English.
Like C in Car
Soft C same as in English
like C in Certain
Use hard C before A, O, U,
otherwise soft
|
Caso (case); carro (car);
local (locale); taco ; cupula; cuesta (cost)
Hace (does); cerca (near);
fácil (easy); cinco (five)
|
CH (seh-ache or
cheh)
|
Like English CH in Church. Never SH like Chicago
|
Leche (milk); chulo (male call boy); chispa (spark)
|
D (deh)
|
Same as in English. Like D
in David
Though not as hard.
|
Dado (dice); dentista
(dentist); adonde (where to?)
|
E (eh)
|
Like E in Get
|
Fe (faith); pero (but); perro (dog); vete (go away)
|
F (efeh)
|
Same as in English. Like F
in Father.
|
Francisco (Francis); Fuente
(fountain); fácil (easy)
|
G
|
Hard G is same in English. Like G in Get
Soft G is like H in English, Like Gente
Use Hard G before a, o, u; otherwise soft
|
Gato (cat); gozar (to enjoy); guante (glove), grito (scream);
agua (water)
Gente (people); garage (garage); vigilar (to watch over, think
vigilant); fingir (to fake), girar (to turn, revolve)
|
H (acheh)
|
The H in Spanish is always silent.
|
Hoy (today); horizonte (horizon); Hueso (bone) ahora (now); huevo
(egg)
|
I (eeh)
|
Like English EE in Feet
|
Fin (end); cinco (five); vivir (to live); mismo (same)
|
J (hotah)
|
Like English H in Hotel
|
José (Joe); bajo (low); ajo (garlic); joven (young)
|
K (cah)
|
Like English K. Most
Spanish words with k are borrowed from other languages.
|
Kilómetro (kilometer);
kilogramo (Kilogram); karate
|
L (eleh)
|
Like English L in Love
|
Lobo (wolf); ola (wave); las
olas (the waves); feliz (happy)
|
LL (eyeh)
|
Like English Y in Yellow (although in certain regions you will hear it sound like the English J in January or the French J in Bonjour)
|
Calle (Street); Llegar (to arrive); Lluvia (rain)
|
M (emeh)
|
Like English M in Memo
|
Mano (hand); médico
(doctor); armario (armoire)
|
N (eneh)
|
Like English N in Nancy
|
Nunca (never); nadie (no
one); nueve (nine)
|
Ñ (enyeh)
|
Like English NY in Canyon or NI in onion
|
Montaña (mountain); piña (pineapple); año (year)
|
O (oh)
|
Like O in No but without the “u”sound at the end
|
No (no); pero (but); perro (dog); mono (monkey)
|
P (peh)
|
Like English P in Pepper
|
Punta (point), Puente
(bridge); papa (potato)
|
Q (cooh)
|
Like English Q in Quaker. As in English, the letter U always
follows but is silent
|
Querer (to want, to love); tanque (tank); querido (dear)
|
R (ereh)
|
No good English equivalents Almost like a D in Metal or TT in
Betty (American pronunciation, not British) ; in the beginning of the word it
is closer to RR (see below) THE SPANISH R IS NOTHING LIKE THE ENGLISH R (as spoken in. US or GBR) but it is similar to the R spoken in INDIAN ENGLISH
|
Paro (I stop); parada (the stop); marido (husband) Slightly flick
your tongue against the roof of your mouth
Real (real); rio (river); romper (to break); raro (rare)
|
RR (erreh)
|
Rolled R; there is no English equivalent
|
Perro (dog); barrio (neighborhood); ferrocarril (locomotive)
|
S (eseh)
|
Like English S in Soup.
|
Sopa (Soup); sonar (to make
a sound); sueño (dream)
|
T (teh)
|
Like English T in Tomato
|
Té (tea); tomate (tomato);
tranquilo (calm)
|
U (ooh)
|
Like English OO in Loop
|
Puro (pure); único (unique); último (last)
|
V (beh
chiquita)
|
The letters B and V sound the same in Spanish, somewhere between
the two
|
Bola (ball); Ven (come); bate (bat); vino (wine); banco (bank)
|
W (doble beh or ooh))
|
Like English W in Water
|
W is used only for foreign
words
|
X (ekees)
|
Like English X in Extra
Like English H in Hotel in certain proper nouns and derivations
from those words
|
Examen (test, examination)
México (Mexico); mexicano (mexican)
|
Y (igriega)
|
Same as in English. Like
English Y in Yellow or Like English Y in Baby
|
Yanqui (Yankee); yarda
(yard); yema (yolk of an egg)
Mandy (nickname for Armando
and Amanda)
|
Z (setah)
|
Like English S in Soup.
(Castilian, like TH in Thank you)
THERE IS NO ENGISH Z SOUND
|
Zapato (shoe); azúl (blue); arroz (rice)
|
|
DIPHTHONGS
|
These are two vowels
together in the same syllable
|
AI; AY
|
Like English I in Bike
|
Aire (air); baile (dance); Hay (There is); caigo (I fall)
|
EI; EY
|
Like English A in Gate or Mate
|
Seis (six); treinta (thirty); reina (queen); ley (law)
|
OI; OY
|
Like English OY in Boy or Joy
|
Hoy (today); Estoy (I am), oigo (I hear)
|
UI; UY
|
Like English WEE in Sweet or Tweet
|
Fui (I was, I went), muy (very); ruido (noise)
|
AU
|
Like English OW in How and Now
|
Autor (author); pausa (pause)
|
ACCENT: The accent is a small symbol placed over a vowel to
indicate the syllable that is stressed. For example: yo comí (I ate), yo tomé
(I took, I drank), fantástico (fantastic). If there is no accent, then the
emphasis is on the second to last syllable for words that end in a
vowel, n or s, e.g. yo tomo (I take, I drink), yo camino (I walk), las
damas (the ladies), origen (origin), and on the last syllable for all others,
e.g. español, carnaval, diagonal (diagonal).
Accents are very important as
they often distinguish two words that are otherwise written the same: e.g.
Sí (Yes); si (if) Él (He); el (the, masc.) esta (this fem.); está (he, she is) el papa (pope); papá (dad)
GREETINGS (Memorize These)
¡Hola!
|
(Hello)
|
Buenos días / Buenas tardes
/ Buenas Noches
|
(Good Day) / (Good
Afternoon) / (Good Night)
|
¿Que tál? / Bien. / Muy bien / Yo, muy bien
|
(How’s it going) / (Well) /
(Very well) / (I, very well)
|
Gracias / De nada
|
(Thank You) / (You’re
welcome)
|
¿Cómo estás? (fam)/¿Cómo
está? / Mal / Muy Mal
|
(How are you? fam/form) /
{Badly) / {Very Badly)
|
¿Y tú? ¿Y Usted (Ud.) /
Bien / Estupendo / Fantástico
|
(And You? fam/form) /
(Well) / (Stupendous) / (Fantastic)
|
Me llamo Armando
|
(My name is Armando,
Literally: I call myself Armando)
|
Mi nombre es Armando
|
(My name is Armando)
|
Note: masc =
masculine; fem = feminine, pl = plural, fam = familiar, form = formal
