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El Alfabeto


Letter Letter Name Pronunciation
A ah
  • sounds like the A in ah
B bay
  • similar to the B in English
C say
  • when followed by a consonant or the letters A, O or U, it sounds like the C in cake
  • when followed by the letters E or I, it sounds like the C in cell
Ch  * chay
  • similar to the Ch in English
D day
  • similar to the D in English
E a
  • similar to the A in state
F efe  
(f-a)
  • sounds like the F in English
G hey
  • when followed by a consonant or the letters A, O or U, it sounds like the G in goat
  • when followed by a consonant or the letters E or I, it sounds similar to the H in hot
H ah-chay
  • always silent
I e
  • sounds like the EE in feet
J hota
  • similar to the H in hot
K kah
  • sounds like the K in English
  • generally only found in words borrowed from other languages
L ele  (l-a)
  • sounds like the L in English
LL a-yeh
  • a separate letter in Spanish
  • depending on the accent of the speaker, can sound like the Y in yellow or similar to the J in jet
M eme  (m-a)
  • sounds like the M in English
N ene
(n-a)
  • sounds like the N in English
Ņ eņe (en-yah)
  • sounds like the NY in canyon
O o
  • sounds like the O in note
P pay
  • sounds like the P in English
Q cu
  • must be followed by a U
  • usually found in a que or qui combination
  • que sounds like "kay"
  • qui sounds like "kee"
R ere
(air-a)
  • when at the beginning of a word, the R must be rolled or trilled
  • when in the middle of a word and doubled, the R must be rolled or trilled
rr  * erre  (air-ray)
  • sounds like a rolled R
S ese  
(s-a)
  • sounds like the S in English
T te
  • sounds like the T in English
U u
  • silent in the gue, gui, que, and qui combinations
  • at all other times, sounds like the U in true
V ve
  • depending on the accent of the speaker, can sound like either the V or B in English
W doble ve
  • sounds like the W in English
  • generally only found in words borrowed from other languages
X eh-keys
  • except in the case of words derived from Indian languages, sounds like the X in excellent
Y e-gri-a-gah
  • depending on the accent of the speaker, can sound like the Y in yellow or similar to the J in jet
  • when standing alone, sounds like the EE in feet
Z zeta
  • sounds like the S in song
*  These are not considered separate letters any more, but you can still find them in old dictionaries.
 
 

Basic Accent Rules

There are two basic rules that tell where the emphasis, or stress, should be placed on a word in Spanish.

Rule 1:  Words ending in a vowel, the letter N or the letter S are stressed on the next to last syllable.
For example: morado (the stress is on the "ra"), uno (the stress is on the "u"), tenis (the stress is on the "te")

Rule 2:  Words ending in a consonant other than N or S are stressed on the very last syllable.
For example: papel (the stress is on the "pel"), ciudad (the stress is on the "dad")

If a word breaks these rules, then it needs a written accent.

 
 
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