SPANISH PRONUNCIATION

VOWELS
letter Spanish English notes
a “gato” “got, hot” Spanish vowels are NEVER reduced
e “verano” “better” EACH vowel letter is pronounced
i “vital” “bit”
The vowel “u” is NOT pronounced when it is after the
o “bote” “boat” letters “g” and “q” and before the vowels “e” and “i”, e.g.
u “burro” “boo” guerra, unless it has diereses ü, e.g. pingüino

CONSONANTS
letter Spanish English notes
b, v “burro, vaca” “book” There is no “v” sound in Spanish
ca, co, cu, “casa”, “cosa”, “cuerpo”, “cat”, The letter “q” is ALWAYS follow by
k, q “kilo”, “queso” “kid”, “queen” “u” (which is not pronounced)
ce, ci, “centavo”, “cima” “cent”,
There is no “z” sound in Spanish
s, z “casa”, “cazar” “seat”
ch “cheque” “check”
d “dar”, “cada” “day” “d” between vowels is “th” as in ‘the’
f “falso” “false”
ga, go, gu “gato”, “gota”, “guapo” “gas”, “got”
ge, gi “gente”, “gitano”
“hey”, “hit”
j “hijo”
gue, gui “guerra”, “guisado” “gas”, “get” The “u” is not pronounced
güe, güi “vergüenza”, “pingüino” “penguin” The “u” is pronounced
The “h” is NEVER pronounced,
h “hijo”, “ahora” -----------
unless is after “c”
“l” is pronounced in the same way at
l “loco” “lack”
the beginning and at the end
ll, y “lloro”, “yate” “yellow”
Only pronounced as “i” when
y “y” “i”
appears as one word by itself
m “mamá” “mom”
n “niño” “nine”
ñ “niño” ------------ There is no “ñ” sound in English
p “papa” “potato”
r “cara” “butter”, “tomato”
rr “carro”, “rata” -------------- There is no “rr” sound in English
t “tomate” “tomato”
w “whisky” “win”
x “expresar” “express”