The Spanish Alphabet “El alfabeto”
Some notes on the Spanish alphabet… In English, sometimes vowels take on different pronunciations Pronounce the following words: back, bake water, later roaring, pouring In Spanish, 99.99999999% of the time, vowels keep the same pronunciation, making it very easy to pronounce the word if you know how each letter is pronounced
Aa [ah] amigo, manzana
Bb [bay] Bolígrafo
*Soft C sounds like sent or cent; before the vowels e or I precio, principal *Hard C sounds like cat or the letter k; before all other letters Cinco, poco Cc [say]
Ch [chay] Chico
Dd [day] Dos
Ee [A] elefante
Ff [f-ay] Falda
Gg [hey!] Garage, goma, tengo *Soft G sounds like h in hint or house; before e or I *Hard G sounds like go; before all other letters Garage, goma, tengo Gg [hey!]
Hh [ah-chay] NEVER PRONOUNCED!!! Hola, ahora *Pronounce the vowel after! [ah-chay]
Ii [eee]
Pronounced like an H…yes you do make the H sound with this letter… >.> Jj junio, julio [ho-ta]
Kk [kah]
Ll [L-ay] Lola, Lima, limón
ll [ay-yay, ay-jay, el-yay] **Pronounced like a Y, as in yes or year Tortilla Ella Ellos [ay-yay, ay-jay, el-yay]
Mm [emm-ay]
Nn [enn-ay]
Ny sound, like in canyon or ni in onion España año ñ [en-yay]
Oo [oh]
Pp [pay]
Qq [coo]
Rr [air-ay] Pero, para, rápido
rr [airr-ay] (roll tongue) Many are unable to roll their r’s right away, so if you can’t, don’t worry rr [airr-ay] (roll tongue)
Ss [essay]
Tt [tay]
Uu [oo]
Pronounced like B, but slightly more soft Vv [vay] vaso
Ww [doblah- vay, doblah-oo]
Xx [eh-kees] Exam, extraño, excelente *may be pronounced like a j in some words– México, Texas
Yy [ig-ree-egg-ah] *Pronounced like: 1. the letter i at the end of a word (hoy) 2. like the y in yes (ya) Yy [ig-ree-egg-ah]
Zz [seta] Zapatos, zorro *Pronounced like the letter s *In Spain, pronounced like the letters th (lisp) Zz [seta] Zapatos, zorro
¡Que Bueno! You are now a master of the alfabeto…