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The letter a in Spanish is always pronounced like the a in the English word father. Spanish is a phonetic language so every letter has a unique sound. Unlike the English a, which has many different pronunciations, the Spanish a is always pronounced "ah".
Listen and repeat each name to practice the Spanish a sound.
Arturo
Eva
Marta
Carlos
Patricia
Marcos
Pablo
The letter e in Spanish is pronounced like the name of the letter A in English. Its sound is short and square and is always pronounced the same, unlike the English E that has several different sounds.
Listen and pronounce each name to practice the Spanish E sound.
Pedro
Pepe
Mercedes
Eva
Evelin
Erica
Enrique
The Spanish letter I is pronounced like the letter E in English. When you see the letter I in Spanish, always pronounce it like a short and square "E" as in the words, Greek, leak, and seek.
Listen and repeat each name to practice the Spanish I sound.
Ignacio
Inez
Patricia
Monica
Tatiana
Kevin
David
The letter O is very similar to the English O but is short and square. Like all Spanish vowels, it only has one sound.
Listen and repeat each name to practice the Spanish O sound.
Oscar
Olivia
Orelia
Ovidio
Jose
Sofia
Hugo
The letter U is pronounced like the double o in the word "boo" or like the u sound in the word "shoe". It has only one sound.
Humberto
Julio
Luz
Lucas
Lucia
Ulises
Julia
The letter y in Spanish is called "I griega" [EE'gree-EGG-ah} It is pronounced like the Spanish letter i, which is like the double ee in English. The Y can also be pronounced like the English letter J, especially before vowels.
Listen and repeat each name to practice the Spanish Y sound.
Ysela
Ysenia
Ynez
Aracely
Leryn
Yeni
Yenifer
Yolanda
The letters qui together are always pronounced like the English word "key"
Listen and pronounce each word to practice the qui combination in Spanish.
¿ Quién? Who?
quince-fifteen
quisiera-I would like...
quiero-I want
el mosquito-the mosquito
el quiosco-the kiosk
el periquito-the parakeet
Y ahora puedes pronunciar"qui" en español
The letter combination ch is always pronounced like the "CH" in the English word "chair". When spelling, people often say "Cheh", which includes both the c and the h, rather than separating the letters.
Listen and repeat the names to practice to the Spanish CH sound.
Chucho
Chuy
Merche
Chita
Chimo
Michel
Chela
The letter H, ache, is always silent in Spanish.
Listen and repeat each name to practice the pronunciation of the Spanish letter H.
Humberto
Hugo
Hortensia
Helena
Hector
Hernan
Horacio
The letter J, hotah, is pronounced like the English letter "h".
Listen and pronounce each name to practice the Spanish J sound.
Jose
Jorge
Juan
Juanita
Javier
Jimena
Josefina
The letter L is only slightly different than the English L . When there is a single L pronounce it like the English L and you will be understood.
Listen and repeat each name to pronounce the Spanish L sound.
Lalo
Paula
Pablo
Lorena
Lorenzo
Miguel
Liliana
The double l, EH'yeh, is pronounced like the letter y in English. In some countries, such as Uruguay and Paraguay it is pronounced like a soft "sh", but most Spanish speakers in the United States pronounce it like y. The LL is never pronounced like the English letter L.
Listen and repeat the Spanish words to practice the Spanish LL sound.
llamar -to call
calle -street
lluvia-rain
pollo-chicken
llevar-to carry; to wear
ella-she
llave-key
The letter Ñ, en'yeh, is pronounced as if there were a y after the letter n. Some English words that have this sound are onion and canyon. The Spanish word piñata is a well-known Spanish word that has this sound.
Listen and pronounce each word to practice the Spanish ñ sound.
España -Spain
piñata
niño-baby
Jalapeño
señor-Mr./Sir
señorita-Miss
señora-Mrs.
Y ahora sabes pronunciar la letra ñ en español.
The Spanish R is not like the English R. It is similar but is produced by touching the roof of your mouth directly above the front teeth. It sounds very similar to how the letter d is pronounced in the word odd, but is a softer sound.
When the letter R is at the beginning of a word it is rolled. Don't worry if you can't roll the r sound, people will still understand you, however in a few words rolling the r or not can change the definition. Context is our friend in those cases.
realidad-reality
rojo-red
el rio-the river
la rosa-the rose
la cara-the face
amarillo-yellow
pero-but
The double r,ehrreh, is always rolled. In rare occasions not rolling the r can change the meaning of a word but Spanish speakers will still understand you based on the context of the conversation in which the word is used.
Listen and repeat each word to practice the pronunciation of the Spanish letter "rr".
el perro-the dog
el arroyo-stream
el burro-the donkey
el carro-the car
la gorra-the baseball cap(hat)
la Tierra-the Earth
el correo-the mail
Y ahora puedes pronunciar la letra "rr" en español .
The Spanish V, beh, at the beginning of a word is pronounced just like the English letter b in the word boy. In the middle of a word it is pronounced like a soft English b.
Listen and repeat each word to practice the Spanish V sound.
violín-violín
violeta-violet
las vacaciones-vacation
las vegetales-the vegetables
la vaca-the cow
breve-brief/short
conveniente -convenient
Y ahora puedes pronunciar la letra v en español. .
The letter Z, SEH'tah, is pronounced like the English letter S in Latin American Spanish In European Spanish it is pronounced like a soft "th". We will practice the Latin American pronunciation.
Listen and pronounce each word to practice the sound of the letter Z.
los zapatos-the shoes
las zanahorias-the carrots
el arroz-the rice
un abrazo-a hug
una cruz-a cross
la luz-the light
un zorro-a fox
Y ahora puedes pronunciar la letra Z en español.
The letters que together are always pronounced like the name of the English letter "K".
Listen and repeat each word to practice the Spanish sound of the que combination.
¿ Qué?-What?
el parque-the park
los panqueques-the pancakes
el queso-the cheese
porque-because
una queja-a complaint
Y ahora puedes pronunciar"que" en español
The gue is always pronounced like the English word gate without the t sound at the end. It is a short and square sound "gue"
Listen and repeat each word to practice pronouncing the gue combination in Spanish.
pague-pay
guerra-war
el juguete-toy
albergue-shelter
apague-turn off
merengue-type of music
portugués-Portuguese
Y ahora puedes pronunciar"gue" en español
G-U-I together is always pronounced like the beginning of the English word Geese. Just remove the "s" sound from the end.
Listen and repeat each word to practice pronouncing GUI in Spanish.
los guisantes-peas
el guía-the guide
el águila-the eagle
la guitarra-the guitar
guisar-to cook
siguiente-following
mi amiguito-my little friend
Y ahora puedes pronunciar"gui" en español
The letter C, ceh, before the vowels a, o, and u makes the English K sound.
Listen and repeat each word to practice pronouncing the letter c like the letter k.
carro-car
beca-scholarship
coco-coconut
loco-crazy
Cupido-Cupid
cubrir-to cover
Y ahora puedes pronunciar ca, co, y cu en español. .
C before the letters e and i is pronounced like an English S.
Listen and repeat each word to practice pronouncing the letter c as an s.
Cecilia
celular-cell phone
trece-thirteen
doce-twelve
cigüeña-stork
ciclo-cycle
bicicleta-bicycle
Y ahora puedes pronunciar ce y ci en espanol.
The letter g before i or e is pronounced like an English h.
Listen and repeat each word to pronounce pronouncing the letter g as an English h sound.
la gente-the people
el gerente-the manager
el agenda-agenda
los gemelos-the twins
los gitanos-the Gypsies
el gigante-the giant
la gira-the tour
Y ahora puedes pronunciar ge y gi en español.
The letter g before a, o, and u is pronounced like the English g in the word "go"
Listen and repeat each word to practice pronouncing the letter ga, go, and gu combinations.
el gato-the cat
el garaje-garage
gordo-fat
llego-I arrive
Me gusta... I like
legumbres-vegetables
gusto-pleasure
Ahora puedes pronunciar ga, go, y gu en espanol.