How to read and say Spanish

Spanish spelling has the pleasant characteristic of being very phonetic, with only a few clearly-defined exceptions. This means that if you know how to pronounce the letters of a word, it's relatively easy to sound out the word itself. Although Spanish has loan words that have been acquired from a variety of other languages, it is nothing like the hodge-podge that is English, with wildly unpredictable spelling, etymology, and grammatical rules which cannot be relied upon. Spanish also has a much stronger tendency to "localize" loanwords than English, which means spelling, pronunciation or both will be changed to better fit the logic of the Spanish language, resulting in words like "beisbol".

Spanish pronunciation varies by region, though speakers from different countries can generally understand each other without trouble. Dialects are usually grouped into the varieties spoken in Spain (which is called Iberian, Peninsular, or European Spanish) and the varieties spoken in Latin America, but there is substantial variation between each of these groups. The one most striking difference between all Latin American dialects and most Spanish dialects lies in the pronunciation of "z", and "c" before "e" or "i". While all Latin American dialects produce an "s" sound (thus making "caza" and "casa" homophones) most Spanish dialects in Spain produce a "th" sound (with the tongue between the teeth, represented as "θ") for those consonants.

Vowels

The vowels in Spanish are short crisp sounds. They are not dragged out like some English vowels. Spanish makes no distinction between "long" and "short" vowels and Spanish-speakers are unlikely to even hear a difference. There is however a distinction between stressed and unstressed.

a

like 'a' in "father"

e

between 'ay' in "pay" and 'e' in "pet"

i

like 'ee' in "see"

o

like 'o' in "roll"

u

like 'u' in "rule"

y

like 'ee' in "see". Very rarely used at the middle or ending of words. Like "y" in young at the beginning of words.

Consonants

b

like 'b' in "elbow" at the beginning of a word and after 'm': boca (mouth). A soft vibration sound almost like English 'v' elsewhere, specifically a 'v' sound but with your two lips pressed together in a 'b' or 'p' shape with the airflow of a 'v'.

c

In most cases it is pronounced like 'c' in "scare": calle (street). When followed by 'e' or 'i', it is like 's' in "supper" (in the Americas, the Canaries and some parts of the Philippines) or 'th' in "thin" (Spain): cine (cinema, pronounced by Latin Americans as SEE-nay, Spaniards as THEE-nay)

ch

like 'ch' in "touch": muchacho (boy) [tʃ]

d

like 'd' in "dog" at the beginning of a sentence or after 'n' or 'l'; like the 'th' in "the" between vowels: de (of/from), pasado (the adjective or noun past). You're usually fine just using the 'th' sound as in "the".

f

like 'f' in "fine": faro (lighthouse)

g

when followed by 'e' or 'i', like a throaty 'h' (general = heh-neh-RAHL, meaning general), otherwise like 'g' in "ago" (gato, cat). In the clusters "gue" and "gui", the 'u' serves only to change the sound of the consonant and is silent (guitarra, guitar), unless it bears a diaeresis, as in "güe" and "güi" (pedigüeño, beggar). In between vowels, it tends to be weakened to a softer sound, [ɣ].

h

silent: hora= OR-ah (hour). Pronounced like a softer 'j' only in foreign words.

j

like a throaty 'h' in "ha": jamón (ham), the sound of Scottish or German "ch" as in "Loch" is close [x]

k

like 'k' in "ski" or silent like Spanish H: kilo knox The letter K is only used in foreign words (kárate, kilo, Kevin, Karen, etc.).

l

like 'l' in "love": lápiz (pen)

ll

Varies substantially by dialect. The easiest widely understandable pronunciation is like 'y' in "year": llamar (to call). Pronounced like a 'zh' [ʒ] as in 'Zhivago' or 'sh' [ʃ] as in 'show' only in Argentina and Uruguay; in some other countries it may be pronounced like an English 'j' [dʒ] as in "ninja" or like 'ly' [ʎ] as in the English word "million". The [ʎ] pronunciation was once enforced in school education as the "only correct" form especially in Francoist Spain but is now retreating northwards in Spain and otherwise only prevalent among bilingual speakers whose other language (e.g. Catalan or Quechua) contains this phoneme.

m

like 'm' in "mother": mano (hand, a rare example of a word whose grammatical gender breaks the rules outlined above—"la mano" is correct)

n

like 'n' in "nice", and like 'n' in "anchor": noche (night), ancla (anchor)

ñ

like 'ny' in "canyon": cañón (canyon) [ɳ], piñata. This is a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet. Pronouncing this as "n" will usually be intelligible but can sometimes make an entirely separate word. For instance, año is "year" but ano is "anus"—you'll want to avoid saying that you have 33 anuses when you mean to say that you're 33 years old.

p

like 'p' in "spit": perro (dog)

q

like 'k' in "ski" (always with a silent "u"): queso, pronounced KAY-so (cheese)

r, rr

Spanish has two 'r' sounds, both of which are different from their counterpart in English. Some effort should be made to approximate each of them, to help listeners distinguish between perro ("dog") and pero ("but") — or perhaps to understand you at all:

• single r: For American English speakers, like the dd in "ladder". This sound is created by putting the tip of the tongue up against where the front of the roof of the mouth meets the upper teeth, very similar to the action English speakers make to pronounce l or d. To some English speakers, it may sound a bit like a combined "d-r". Take care to pronounce r separately when it follows a consonant; a blended English tr will not be recognized in the Spanish word otro ("other"), which should be pronounced more like "OHT-roh". Try to avoid the common pitfall to distinguish the words by the vowel: There is no difference in the e sound of pero and perro and Spanish native speakers won't hear any if you try to make one.
• rolled r: Written "r" at the beginning of the word, or "rr" between vowels. It's a trill, a multiply vibrating sound. Whereas most English speakers can learn to tap out a single r, many adults learning Spanish find this sound impossible to produce; in this case, pronouncing it like a Spanish r or fumbling out a d-r will be better understood than pronouncing it like a long English r.

s

like 's' in "son": sopa (soup); in Spain, it is often pronounced like a soft, palatised "sh" at the end of a word or syllable.

t

like 't' in "stop": tapa (top)

v

Pronounced the same way as b (see above): like 'b' in "elbow" at the beginning of a word and after 'n'; closer to the English 'v' sound elsewhere. To distinguish v from b when saying the name of the letter, one says "ve chica" or "be grande" to indicate which; native Spanish speakers may not hear the difference between "vee" and "bee".

w

like 'w' in "weight" in English words, whisky, (pronounced "WEESS-kee"). Like 'b' in "bed" in German words. This letter is never used in native Spanish words and you can live your entire life in a Hispanic country and never hear it outside of the word "whisky".

x

like 'x' in "flexible" (flexible). Like 'ss' in "hiss" at beginning of a word (xilófono, xylophone). Like a throaty 'h' in the words México, mexicano, Oaxaca, and oaxaqueño. Often found in words of indigenous American origin where it may not follow Spanish pronunciation logic.

y

like 'y' in "yes": payaso (clown). Like 'y' in "boy": hoy (now). Pronounced like a 'zh' [ʒ] as in 'Zhivago' or 'sh' [ʃ] as in 'show' only in Argentina and Uruguay: yo no sé (I don't know), pronounced "zhoh noh say".

z

like 's' in "supper" (Latin America, parts of Spain), like 'th' in "thin" (most of Spain) [θ]: zorro (fox). See c above.

Similarities in pronunciation between b/p/v can be difficult for gringos (English speakers). Many Spanish speakers are familiar with Anglo cultures, particularly in Mexico and Spain, where they interact with English-speakers on a regular basis, so they may have more familiarity with your inability to pronounce their words as they do. If you are visiting remote villages in the Andes, Hispanics there will be less likely to decode mispronunciations.

Diphthongs

Most diphthongs can be approximated by blending the first vowel into the second in a single syllable. However, according to the Real Academía Española only diphthongs containing an i or u are "one syllable", all others are two syllables (this is relevant in questions of where to place accents)

ai, ay

like 'eye': baile (BAI-leh, dance)

au

like 'ow' in "cow": causa (KOW-sah, cause)

ea

like 'eh-ah': fea (FEH-ah, ugly)

ei, ey

like 'ay' in "say": reina, rey. (RAY-nah, queen)

eu

like 'eh-oo': euro ("EH-oo-roh")

ia

like 'ee-yah': piano (pee-YAH-noh)

ie

like 'ee-yeh': pie (PYEH, foot)

io

like 'ee-oh': dio (DYOH, gave)

iu

like 'ee-oo': ciudad (see-oo-DAHD, city)

oi, oy

like 'oy' in "boy": soy (soy, I am)

ua

like 'wa' in "wallet": cuatro (KWAH-troh, four)

ue

like 'we' in "well": puedo (PWEH-doh, I can)

ui, uy

like 'wee' in "ween": ruido (RRWEE-doh, noise)

uo

like "wo" in "won't": averiguo (ah-beh-REE-gwoh, I find out)

Accents and stress

Word stress can affect the meaning of the word and generally follows these rules:

• If a word is marked with an accent, then that syllable receives the stress.
  • Additionally, if the accent marks a diphthong a syllable break occurs between the two vowels of the diphthong.

• If a word is NOT marked with an accent, then

1. if the word ends in a consonant other than N or S, the stress occurs on the last syllable.
2. if the word ends in a vowel, N or S, the stress occurs on the next to last syllable.

Examples: (1st pronunciation: Iberian; 2nd pronunciation: Latin America; when there is only one, it's shared)

círculo (THEER-koo-loh/SEER-koo-loh) → circle

circulo (theer-KOO-loh/seer-KOO-loh) → I circulate

circuló (theer-koo-LOH/seer-koo-LOH) → he/she/it circulated

estás (ehs-TAHS) → you are

estas (EHS-tahs) → these

origen (oh-REE-hehn) → origin

orígenes (oh-REE-hehn-ehs) → origins

ciudad (thee-yoo-DAHD/see-yoo-DAHD) → city

ciudades (thee-you-DAH-dehs/see-yoo-DAH-dehs) → cities

An accent can also be used to differentiate between words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings:

él (he) el (the)

té (tea) te (you [object])

tú (you [subject]) tu (your)

mí (me) mi (my)

dé (give [present subjunctive]) de (of/from)

sí (yes) si (if)

sé (I know) se (one [pronoun])

más (more/plus) mas (but)