El alfabeto The alphabet

A Called : “ah” Pronounced: “ah” Never pronounced like in cake or cat Ex. Manzana, ratón

B Called “bay” Pronounced like English Ex. Barba, blanco

C Called: “say” Pronounced: like an s in front of i or e Pronounced: like a k in front of a,o, or u Sometimes put together with h to make ch, as in “check” Ex. Cinema, centro, cantar, color, cuchara

D Called: “day” Pronounced: Like the d in English at the beginning of a word Pronounced: like a soft “th” at the end of a word Ex. Día, verdad

E Called: “ay” Pronounced “ay” or “eh” Never pronounced “ee” like in English Ex. Centro, Morelos

F Called: “ehfay” Pronounced: like the f in English Ex. Fuente, forma

G Called: “hey” Pronounced: like h in front of i or e Pronounced: like “guh” in front of a, o, u Ex. General, gigante, goma, mangú

H Called: “ah-chay” Pronounced: silent, unless paired with a c in front Ex. Hola, cuchillo

I Called: “ee” Pronounced: “ee” like the double e in English Never pronounced: like the I in the English word “time” Ex. Inglés, mio

J Called “hoe-tah” Pronounced like h in “house” Never pronounced like j in “jog” Ex. Jabón, jaja

K Called “kah” Pronounced like k’s are in English Rarely found in Spanish words, words that use it are usually borrowed from other languages Ex. kanguro

L Called “eh-lay” Pronounced like L in “lion” Used the same as English Ex. Leon, limpiar, elefante

LL Called “eh-yay” or “eh-jay” depending on where the speaker is from Pronounced like y in “yak” or j in “job” Never pronounced like an l and a y put together Ex. Tortilla, alli

M Called “eh-may” Pronounced like m in “money” Ex. Mono, examen

N Called “eh-nay” Pronounced like n in “nine” Ex. Nadar, no

Ñ Called “en-yay” Pronounced like ny in “canyon” or ni in “onion” Ex. Año, niño

O Called “oh” Pronounced like o in “opal” Never pronounced like “ah” in “cost” Ex. No, poco

P Called “pay” Pronounced like p in “pirate” Ex. Partido, por, pinguino

Q Called “koo” Pronounced like k in “king” Almost always with a u Qu never pronounced “kwuh” like in “quiet” Ex. Quinto, mantequilla

R Called “eh-ray” Pronounced like r in “rage,” only softer Ex. Rayos, rana

RR Called “ehrrrrrrrrrrrrr-ay” Pronounced by rolling r, elongating the r sound Super hard to pronounce for English speakers Ex. Tierra, perro

S Called “eh-say” Pronounced like s in “salamander” Used just like English Ex. Sonrisa, sol

T Called “tay” Pronounced like t in “tiger,” only softer Ex. Tigre, trono

U Called “oo” Pronounced “oo” like in boot Never pronounced “you” Ex. Super, mucho

V Called “oo-bay” Pronounced the same as a B Never pronounced like a V as in video Ex. Vaca, vacaciones

W Called “do-blay-oo” Pronounced like a w in English Hardly ever appears in Spanish words, unless they are borrowed from another language

X Called “ek-ees” Pronounced like English X in front of A Pronounced like H in front of I Ex. Examen, Mexico

Y Called “ee-gree-ay-guh” Pronounced like “ee” inside a word Pronounced like “yuh” or “juh” in front of a word, depending on region of speaker Ex. Yeltsin, Yolanda, Lynda

Z Called “say-tah” Pronounced like an S Never pronounced “zzzzz” like in buzz Ex. Zoologico, Zambrano