Pronouncing Spanish
To use this pronunciation guide, first listen to the examples and repeat them, taking mental note of the spelling and pronunciation. After that, begin reading the surrounding rules and tips. Practice, not memorization, is the key.
Spanish pronunciation is actually fairly straightforward, but it is not as "phonetic" (or phonemic) as some people claim. After you hear the language and read the words a few times, you will notice that it's easy to judge a word's pronunciation from its spelling, much easier than the "historical spelling" of English words like "rough" and "through".
Please pay attention to any notes about European Spanish (as spoken in Spain) if you're learning that dialect, otherwise, this guide represents standard Latin American pronunciation.
This guide links to sound files. Clicking on words or phrases below will access them, so that you can hear Spanish pronounced out loud.
Vowels
Spanish has five vowels: a, e, i, o, u. Listen to each one a couple times, then say it aloud:
>>example
la casa the house
el "de efe" the "F.D.", Federal District (Mexico City)
insistir to insist
los osos the bears
usufructo enjoyment (from using something)
>>in-depth Hold your lips firm and make the vowel sound consistent from beginning to end. English speakers tend to make a "y" sound at the end of Spanish e and i, and a "w" sound at the end of Spanish o and u. Those are a dead giveaway that you're not a native speaker.
Sometimes, you will see the vowels i and u immediately before or after another vowel. In that case, i sounds a little more like English "y" and u like "w":
>>example
cuatro four
áureo golden
familia family
arraigar to take root, to establish
>>in-depth Complex diphthongs (vowel+vowel) like "ou" in "ought", "out" and "through" in English aren't really around in Spanish. If you see an e and an o in Spanish, you pronounce "e-o". Both letters sound like they do in the examples above.
See stress and accents below to begin to learn how to deal with vowel stress and written accent marks.
Consonants
Most Spanish consonants sound a lot like their English counterparts.
>>example
tomar to drink, to take (food, water, medicine)
dicen they say
familia family
padre father
cuentas you count
>>in-depth p, t and c never have a puff of air, as if followed by an "h" sound, like they do in the English words pay, take and care. Doing this will also make you stand out as a non-native speaker.
h is silent.
>>example
hotel hotel
rr (or r at the beginning of a word) is famously trilled. Give it a try.
>>example
regateo bargain
>>in-depth I've seen many students have trouble with this sound. Your tongue points to the top of your gum ridge (above the back of your upper teeth) but does not press hard against it. You will notice the tension and vibration as air is forced through the gap between your tongue and that ridge.
r inside or at the end of a word sounds like the tt in "butter".
>>example
curar to cure
j always makes an "h"-like sound.
>>example
jota letter "j"
In Spain and parts of Latin America, the sound is a bit rougher (further down in the throat, like:
>>example
jota (Spain) letter "j"
justicia (Spain) justice
ll and y both sound a lot like "y" in English.
>>example
me llamo my name is
In Spain, ll is traditionally like the "lli" in "million", and y sounds like English "y".
>>example
yo me llamo (Spain) my name is
Finally, ll and y can sound like an "sh" or the "s" in "treasure" (both considered less educated), or like the "j" in "jeep" (informal, but very common).
yo me llamo (pronunciation 1 vs. 2) my name is
ñ sounds a lot like "ni" in "onion".
>>example
ñoñería timidity
b and v sound closer to a "v" when they're between two vowels. Otherwise, they're like English "b".
>>example
cabeza (LatAm vs. Spain) head
vaca cow
d sounds like "th" in "this" when it's between two vowels, or after l, n or r.
>>example
edad age
g has a unique, voiced h-like sound between vowels.
>>example
agua water
s sounds a lot like "s" in English, no matter where it is within a word.
>>example
se sientan they sit down
In Spain, s is traditionally pronounced with the tongue a bit closer to the palate, where "sh" is made in English.
>>example
se sientan they sit down
Some people pronounce s like "z" in "zebra" before a voiced consonant.
>>example
mismo same
You may hear other people pronounce s like "h" in "hard" before any consonant, or at the end of a word. This is a regional pronunciation.
>>example
mismo same
c sounds like "k" before a, o and u, and "s" before e and i.
>>example
cero zero
cuentas you count
In Spain, c sounds like "th" in "thin" (not "s" in "sit") before e and i. This pronunciation is distinctively European Spanish.
>>example
cero zero
Smiliarly, g sounds like "g" before a, o and u, and "h" before e and i.
>>example
elegir to choose
regateo guide
qu is pronounced "g" before e or i.
>>example
guía guide
qu has a "k" sound, and is found before e or i.
>>example
¿qué? what?
z sounds like "s" in "sing".
>>example
por azar at random
In Spain, z sounds like the "th" in "thin". This pronunciation is one of the most immediately recognizable marks of a Spaniard.
>>example
por azar at random
Accents and Stress
Stress makes one syllable of a word more prominent or emphatic (just a bit louder). If a Spanish word ends in a vowel, -n or -s, it is stressed on the syllable before the last.
A sample Spanish word divided into syllables: re - ga - te - o.
If a word ends in any other consonant, you stress the last syllable.
Another word divided into syllables: ho - tel.
If a different syllable is stressed, then you will see an accent mark on that syllable's vowel.
>>example
áureo (we would expect au - re - o)
saltó (we would expect sal - to)
We will also meet words that use accent marks (called tildes in Spanish) to sort out homophones (two distinct words with the same spelling), like qué what and que that.
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