Alphabet A to Ñ

Pronunciation guide to the basic Spanish Alphabet.
Spanish Alphabet
Spanish pronunciation is indeed very consistent, which means that vowels and consonants (or letter combinations) are pronounced the same way regardless of the word in which they appear. Many of the same sounds as in English can be found in Spanish, as well as some unique sounds you may not be accustomed to hearing.

If you pronounce something wrong it might create a huge miscommunication. Let’s take a look at the pronunciation chart below and learn!

LETTER LETTER NAME APPROXIMATE EQUIVALENT IN ENGLISH NOTATION IN PRONUNCIATION KEY EXAMPLE
a a ah long "a" as in "bar" (a), (ah) alto tall
b be
be larga
be alta		 beh
beh lahr - gah
beh ahl - tah

like English "b" but softer; don't close your lips all the way (b) bajo short
c ce kah
theh
before a.o.u: [k];
before e.i: [s] (or in some places, [th] as in "three") 		(k), (s) casa
cielo
house
heaven
d d deh softer than English "d"; more like "th" in "then" (d), (th) delgado thin
e e eh like "a" in "take" but shorter (eh) español Spanish
f efe eh - feh like English "f" (f) feo ugly
g ge heh before a.o.u: [g] (as in "girl");
before e.i: like "h" in "help", but stronger 		(g), (h) gato
gente
gato
gente
h hache ah - che ALWAYS silent hola hello
i i
i latina		 ee
ee lah - tee - nah
Like "ee" as in "feet", but shorter (ee) inteligente intelligent
j jota hoh - tah like "h" in "hot", but stronger (expel more air to make the sound louder) (h) joven young
k ca kah like English "k" ("k" doesn't occur in native Spanish words) (k) koala koala
l ele eh - leh like English "l" (l) leer read
ll elle eh - leh like "y" in "yes" (in some places like "j" in "jam") (y) lluvia read
m eme eh - meh like English "m" (m) mamá mother
n ene eh - neh like English "n" (n) nuevo new
ñ eñe eh - nyeh a "nyuh" sound, like you hear in "onion" (ny) ñoño nerd
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