1. Pronunciation: Your Easy Key to the Sounds of Spanish
Spanish Letters & Symbols

2. Spanish Letters Symbols Pronunciation/example
A ah Pronounced like the English A in
Ex: “yacht” or “taco”
E ay, eh like along A sound as in “day”
I ee like a long E as in “meet”
Ex: libro(lee-broh)->book
O oh like a long O as in “open”
Ex: foto (foh-toh)->photo
U oo like the double O in the word “tooth”
Ex: Cuba (Koo-bah)

3. Common Vowel Combination
ai ahy The combined ai is like “eye”
Ex: baile (bahy-lay)->dance
au ow AU is pronounced like “cow”
Ex: causa(Kow-sah)->cause
ei ay EI is pronounced like “day”
Ex: aceite (ah-say-tay)->oil

4. More common vowel combos.
ia yah IA is similar to the YAH sound in “yacht”
Ex: Francia (Frahn-syah)->France
ie yeh IE sounds lke YEH sound in “yet”
Ex: siete (syeh-tay)->seven
io yoh IO is similar to the “yoh” in “yoke”
Ex: canción (kahn-SYOHN)->song

5. More common vowel combos.
ua wah UA is pronounced like the WAH sound in
“Water” Ex: cuánto (KWAHN-to)->how
much, how many
ue way UE sounds like the English “W” followed
by a long “A” as in the word “way”
Ex: bueno(BWAY-noh)->good

6. Consonants and combinations
B: ba-be-bi-bo-bu
C: K-sound before a, o, u (ca, co, cu) Ex: casa (koh-sah)->house//ca-co-cu
C: S-sound before e or i (ce, ci) Ex: Cecilia // ce-ci
cc: ks-sound pronounced like “accept” Ex: acceso (ahk-SAY-soh)->access
ch: ch-pronounced as in “church” Ex: mucho (moo-choh)->a lot
cha- che,-chi- cho- chu
D: da-de-di-do-du
F: fa-fe-fi-fo-fu

7. Consonants & Combos.
G: g-before a, o, and u, pronounced with a hard G-sound as in “go”
Ex: gafas->eyeglasses ga, gue, gui, go, gu
G: h-sound before e or i, pronounce like the letter “H” in English as in “hot”
Ex: gente (HEHN-tay)->people Ex: girafa (he-ra-fa)
H: always silent Ex: hasta (AHS-tah)->until; ha-he-hi-ho-hu
J: H-sound pronounced like the letter “H” in the English word “hot” Ex: José
ja-je-ji-jo-ju
L: la-le-li-lo-lu and Ll or ll: y-sound as in “Yes” Ex: pollo (poh-yoh)->chicken

8. Consonants & combos. N: na-ne-ni-no-nu and Ñ: ña-ñe- ñi- ño- ñu
Ñ or ñ: ny-sound as in “canyon” Ex: niño(nee-nyoh)->child
qu: k-sound pronounced like the letter “K” like as in the word “keep;”(qui or que)
Ex: qué (kay)->what? Or que (w/o accent on e)->that… Ex: aquí(ah-key)->here
R: r-sound pronounced w/ a trill as in “there” Ex: caro(KAH-roh)->expensive;
*if “r-letter” is written in the middle of a word, then it has a “light r-sound);
**if it’s written at the beginning of a word, then it’s a “hard-r” sound & will have to roll tongue, Ex: rosa ->Rose

9. Consonants & combos.
rr (or beginning a word) rr-sound Ex: perro (peh-rroh)->dog
S: sa-se-si-so-su
Va-ve-vi-vo-vu “b-sound”: pronounced as a soft English letter B; Ex: vaso-glass
X: ks-sound; before a vowel, pronounced like the “KS” in the English word “cooks”
Ex: examen (ehk-sah-mehn)->exam xa-xe-xi-xo-xu
Ya-ye-yi-yo-yu Ex: yoyo
Z: s-sound; pronounced as in the English word “see” Ex: zapato(sah-pah-toh)/shoe