Spanish Pronunciation “Cheat Sheet”
Vowel Sounds
A – always pronounced “ah”, as in father ( Spanish example: nada)
E – always pronounced as a short e, as in best, dress (Spanish
example: inglés)
I – always pronounced “ee”, as in feet, bee ( Spanish example: sí)
O – always pronounced as a long o, as in or, doctor, but with the
lips a little more rounded. It is always a pure vowel with no trace of
the u sound which is present in the English pronunciation of “no”.
(Spanish example: foto)
U – pronounced “oo”, as in fool, pool. (Spanish example: uno)
except in a combination where it is preceded by “g” and followed by
“a” where has a “w” sound (Spanish example: Guadalajara). See
also the rules for gue, gui, que, qui and for the diaresis mark.
Like English, Spanish has hard vowels (A, O, U) and soft vowels (E, I)
which affect the pronunciation of C and G in front of the them.
Consonant Sounds
B – Similar to the English “b” but less plosive; between vowels it is
pronounced very softly so that the lips touch only slightly. (Spanish
example: bebida) It’s interchangeable with the pronunciation of “v”.
C – As in English, before “a”, “o”, and “u” it is pronounced as a “k”
as in can. (Spanish example: cantar) Before e or i, c is pronounced
as an s as in cent. (Spanish examples: centavo, ciudad)
CC – Pronounced very similar to the “cc” in accident (Spanish
example: accidente)
D – Similar to the English “d” in “bed” but with the tongue further
forward; between vowels or as the last letter of a word it is
pronounced similar to the “th” in “the” (Spanish example: ciudad)
G – Before A, O, or U it is pronounced as the G in gate (Spanish
example: gato) Before E or I it is pronounced like the English H but
more emphatic. (Spanish example: general)
H – Always silent in Spanish. (Spanish example: hotel)
J – Always pronounced like the English H but more emphatic
(Spanish example: jalapeño)
LL – Always pronounced as the Y in yes.(Spanish example: ella)
ñ – This Spanish letter is pronounced NY as in canyon (Spanish
example: español)
R – Similar to English (Spanish example: hora) except when it is
the first letter of a word it is strongly trilled. (Spanish example:
Costa Rica)
RR – Always strongly trilled. (Spanish example: arroz)
V –There is no difference between the “v” and the “b” (Spanish
example: video)
Y – Standing alone, it is pronounced “ee” as in tree (Spanish
example: cinco y media, San Ysidro), that is, just like an “i” would
be. Next to a vowel or between vowels, it is pronounced like the “y”
in yearn (Spanish example: vaya, hoy)
Z – Like the English S (Spanish example: diez, Cortez)
QUE – pronounced ke as in kept (Spanish example: ¿Qué pasa?)
QUI – pronounced kee as in keep (Spanish example: quince)
GUE – pronounced ge as in get (Spanish example: guerro)
GUI – pronounced gee as in geese (Spanish example: guitarra)
Sounds to focus on: vowels, h, j, ll, ñ, g, que/qui/gue/gui
The remaining letters are pronounced as they are in English with
only very slight variations.
Syllable Emphasis and the Accent
Normally the syllable that is emphasized (or stressed) is either the
last or next to last according to the following rules:
Words that end in a consonant other than N and S have stress on the
last syllable. Examples: comer, verdad.
Words that end in a vowel, S, or N have stress on the next to the last
syllable. Examples: tacos, enchilada, hacen.
Many two-vowel combinations diphthong (see next section) unless
one of them has an accent. Examples: colonia, Mario.
In Spanish, an accent on a vowel (á, é, i, ó, ú) serves two purposes:
Overrides normal stress. Examples: millón, cárcel, liberación, dólar.
Used to distinguish between identical words including interrogatives
in questions. Examples: si (if) vs. sí (yes), tú (you) vs. tu (your), él
(he) vs. el (the), mí (me) vs. mi (my). Interrogatives: ¿Qué quiere?
(what do you want) vs. Hace lo que quiere. (Do what you want)
Emphasis is very important for verbs: “hablo” means “I speak”, “habló”
means “he spoke”.
