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Chapter 1 - The Spanish Alphabet: Vowels

The Spanish alphabet is very similar to the English alphabet. But here, of course, we’ll focus on the differences!

The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters: 22 consonants and 5 vowels. The vowels are the same as in English: A, E, I, O and U. But, unlike in English, in Spanish these vowels are always pronounced in the same way.

Letter A is always pronounced ah. We find it in words such as amar (to love), alfabeto (alphabet) and manzana (apple).

Letter E is always pronounced eh. We can see this vowel in estrella (star), espejo (mirror) and elegir (to choose).

Letter I is always pronounced ee. We see it in words such as idioma (language), imitar (imitate) and invierno (winter).

Letter O is always pronounced oh. We can find this letter in oso (bear), hongo (mushroom) and oler (to smell).

Letter U is always pronounced oo. We can see this vowel in sumar (to add), luz (light) and pluma (feather).

The pronunciation of Spanish vowels is easy, because it never changes.

Now, practice the Spanish vowels with these 50 example sentences!

For now, don’t focus on the meaning of the words, simply focus on the pronunciation.

Letra a - Letter a

La mamá canta - The mom sings

Ana es mi amiga - Ana is my friend

La sala está llena - The room is full

Álvaro ama las bananas - Álvaro loves bananas

Las abejas trabajan - The bees work

Ellas lavan las sábanas - They wash the bedsheets.

La gata salta - The cat jumps

La abogada habla - The lawyer speaks

Las papas están saladas - The potatoes are salty

La banda de jazz ensaya - The jazz band is rehearsing

Letra e - Letter e

El elefante es enorme - The elephant is huge

Ese traje es muy elegante - That suit is very elegant

Ernesto enciende el fuego - Ernesto starts the fire

Este empleo me interesa - I am interested in this job

El enfermero viene temprano - The nurse comes early

El cementerio está embrujado - The cemetery is haunted

Siempre llueve en Ecuador - It always rains in Ecuador

Hay veinte nueces en el estante - There are twenty walnuts on the shelf

El vidente me lee la mente - The psychic reads my mind

El tren no se detiene en este andén - The train does not stop on this platform

Letra i - Letter i

Isabel entiende inglés - Isabel understands English

Mi tía es muy inteligente - My aunt is very smart

Iván viaja a la India - Ivan is travelling to India

El gobierno invierte en infraestructura - The government invests in infrastructure

Un rayo ilumina el cielo - A lightning lights up the sky

Ignacio siempre imagina cosas - Ignacio is always imagining things

El ingeniero diseña un rascacielos - The engineer designs a skyscraper

El instituto cierra en el invierno - The institute closes during the winter

La chica inglesa tiene lindas ideas - The English girl has nice ideas

Irina investiga sobre la historia italiana en internet - Irina investigates Italian history on the internet

Letra o - Letter o

Oscar tiene un ojo rojo - Oscar has a red eye

Los hongos están en el horno - The mushrooms are in the oven

El oso vive solo en el bosque - The bear lives alone in the forest

Este coche no es ecológico - This car is not environmentally friendly

Osvaldo no está del todo loco - Osvaldo is not completely crazy

El dueño del bar ofrece a los comensales jugo de coco - The bar owner offers coconut juice to the clients

La doctora Ortiz odia la comida con orégano - Doctor Ortiz hates oregano in her food

El oficial de policía observa con atención la grabación del robo - The police officer carefully observes the recording of the robbery

Rocco es en extremo organizado - Rocco is extremely organized

Yo compro obsequios a menudo - I frequently buy presents

Letra u - Letter u

Las uvas son dulces - Grapes are sweet

Úrsula toca el ukelele los lunes - Úrsula plays the ukulele on Mondays

Uma pinta sus uñas de color azul - Uma paints her nails blue

El unicornio susurra - The unicorn whispers

El submarino se hunde - The submarine sinks

El suelo está sucio - The floor is dirty

Humberto cumple años un jueves - Humberto’s birthday is on a Thursday

Susana es una mujer uruguaya - Susana is a Uruguayan woman

El alumno usa su uniforme - The student wears his uniform

La música de Venezuela es única - Venezuela’s music is unique

Chapter 2 - The Spanish Alphabet: Consonants

The Spanish alphabet has 22 consonants: one more than the English alphabet.

This mysterious additional consonant is… letter Ñ.

Letter Ñ looks like an N with a moustache or a funny little hat, and it sits between the N and the O in the Spanish alphabet. It is pronounced nee, and you can find it in words like año (year) or mañana (tomorrow).

And what about the other consonants?

Letters F, M, N and S are basically pronounced just like their English equivalents. The same can be said of K, W and X. However, these three letters are rare and don’t come up very frequently in Spanish.

The Spanish consonants B, D, P and T are very similar to the English ones, but a bit softer: as in beso (kiss), duda (doubt), pato (duck) and taco (heel).

The Spanish V is very similar to the Spanish B, so it’s a softer English B.

Letter C has three different sounds. When followed by E or I, it’s pronounced like an S, as in cisne (swan) or trece (thirteen). When followed by H, is the same as the CH combination in English, as in chocolate. All of the other times, it’s pronounced like the English K, as in casa (house) or cosa (thing). When two Cs are placed together, they sound just like in English: for example, acceso means access.

Letter J in Spanish sounds like a stronger English H in words like ‘ham’. For example: jalapeño.

Letter G has two pronunciations. The soft one is similar to the English G in ‘game’. It appears when G is followed by consonants, A, O or U: gato (cat) or guante (glove) are some examples).

The hard G appears when it is followed by E or I. It sounds like the Spanish J. To have a soft G sound with these two vowels, you need to put a silent U between them, like in guitarra (guitar). However, if that U has dieresis (Ü), it means it has to be pronounced, like in pingüino (penguin).

H is always silent, except when preceded by a C. Hielo (ice) and humano (human) are some examples.

Regarding letter L, when you see just one, you don’t need to worry: it’s pronounced just like in English. However, when there are two Ls, the pronunciation depends on the country. The double L can be pronounced like the English Y in ‘yes’, like a soft English J, or like the English SH combination.

The pronunciation of letter Q is special, but easy to learn. It only appears in QUE and QUI combinations, where the U is silent, so the pronunciation is ke and ki. Some examples are queso (cheese) and aquí (here).

The famous rolling R is hard to learn for some people! But it takes only practice! Letter R has this hard sound when it is placed at the beginning of the word, like ratón (mouse), or when there are two Rs, as in perro (dog). In all other cases, the R is pronounced like the American English pronunciation of the R in ‘water’, as in cara (face).

Letter Y has two pronunciations: when it is at the end of the word or by itself, it’s like a Spanish I (pronounced ee); when not, it’s like the Spanish LL, so it depends on the country.

In Latin America, letter Z sounds just like an S. However, in Spain it sounds like the English TH in ‘Thursday’.

Now, practice your Spanish consonants with these 50 sentences:

Letra b - Letter b

Brenda baja