Spanish Alphabet Pronunciation

Differences between English and Spanish

More letters in Spanish alphabet (30) (29) Different pronunciations Letter sounds don’t change!!

Vowels

A=ah (father) E=eh (day) I=ee (feet) O=oh (go) U=oo (fool)

REPITE, POR FAVOR

A,E,I,O,U (Ah, eh, ee, oh, oo)

REMEMBER

These sounds never change!!

A: a B: be C: ce CH: che D: de E: e F: efe G: ge H: hache I: i

J: jota K: ka L: ele LL: elle M: eme N: ene Ñ: eñe O: o P: pe Q: cu

R: ere RR: Doble ere S: ese T: te U: u V: ve W: doble u / doble v X: equis Y: i griega Z: zeta

Vowel Practice

Pronounce the following nonsense words, remembering that vowel sounds don’t change!

abatanama nebebe itipidi otopo umugumu

More vowel practice . . .

Pronounce the words, remembering the sounds of the vowels!

tulemendu sanebini adotute ducatebilo

Consonants

Most sound similar to English Some are different . . .

La letra H (Hache)

H is always silent !

Pronounce:

Hamaca (hammock) Helado (ice cream) Hilo (thread) Hormiga (ant) Humanidad (humanity)

La Letra J (Jota)

J sounds like a hard English H.

Pronounce:

Jalea (jelly) Jefe (chief, leader) Jirafa (giraffe) Joven (young person) Jugo (juice)

La letra LL (elle)

In most countries, the ll makes a “y” sound.

Pronounce:

calle (street) bella (beautiful) silla (chair) olla (pan)

La letra ñ (eñe)

Makes a “ny” sound

Pronounce:

pestañas (eyelashes) montaña (mountain) baño (bathroom) años (years)

La letra R (ere)

Makes a soft “d” sound

(If the letter “r” starts a word, roll it!)

Pronounce:

sendero (path) jarabe (syrup) barato (cheap)

La Letra RR (erre)

Always roll the “rr”

Pronounce:

carro (car) perro (dog) ferrocarril (railroad)

La Letra Z (Zeta)

In most countries, the “Z” sounds like the English “S” In Spain, the “Z” makes a “th” sound

Pronounce:

Zapato (shoe) Bostezo (yawn) Pizarra (chalkboard) Zanahoria (carrot)

Special Letter: C (ce)

Sounds like “s” if followed by e or I(th sound in Spain)

Sounds like “k” if followed by any other letter

Casa (house) Caracol (seashell) Celoso (jealous) Ciencias (science) Cicatriz (scar)

Special Letter: G (ge)

Sounds like “h” if followed by e or i Sounds like “g in girl” if followed by any other letter

Gaviota (seagull) Gallo (rooster) General (general) Gimnasio (gymnasium) Gigante (giant)

Tough Word #1

Bacatepocupipo

Tough Word #2

enchadubanono

Tough Word #3

Nillopoturola

Last Tough Word

Zadepacucecalliñocherra

La Tarea

Find a written Spanish sentence and be ready to read it to the class tomorrow with perfect pronunciation.

You can now pronounce any Spanish word!