The Spanish Alphabet (With Audio) To Be taught the Finest Pronunciation

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Spanish and English each use the Latin alphabet, however studying your Spanish ABCs is extra than simply recognizing letters. You possibly can sound extra like a local speaker by getting a number of key sounds of the abecedario (alphabet) good. Spanish is a “shallow” language, which means that there’s a direct correspondence between pronunciation and spelling. So, studying Spanish is simple because the vowels are very constant in comparison with English. With some useful tricks to pronounce consonants properly in Spanish, you may talk with confidence.

What number of letters are within the Spanish alphabet?

The official alfabeto español (Spanish alphabet) has a complete of 27 letters. It consists of the identical 26 letters because the English alphabet, plus the letter: ñ.

Do you know that the Spanish alphabet used to have extra letters? In 2010, the Actual Academia Española determined that the letters “ch,” “ll,” and “rr” needs to be mixed with the letters “c,” “l,” and “r.” In consequence, Spanish dictionaries now not have separate sections for phrases that start with these letter pairings. There are additionally a number of letters that fluctuate by area, regardless that the official record has designated one identify for every. 

For instance, the official identify for the letter “y” is ye, however you’ll definitely nonetheless hear i griega for this letter in alphabet songs and spellings around the globe. You’ll see a few of these regional variations in our charts because you’re more likely to nonetheless hear them in dialog. 

Tips on how to pronounce the Spanish alphabet

How lengthy does it take to study Spanish pronunciation? The excellent news is that many Spanish letters sound just like their English counterparts, in order that they’ll be simple to acknowledge immediately. In case you discover ways to pronounce these letters, you may escribir (to write down) and deletrear (spell out) new phrases with ease. You may as well ask Spanish audio system to spell new phrases that will help you comprehend them. 

• ¿Cómo se escribe esta palabra? = How do you write/spell this phrase?
• ¿Puedes deletrear su nombre? = Are you able to spell out your identify? 

If you study to pronounce the instance phrases on this Spanish alphabet chart, discover how the consonants can sound a bit softer than in English, and the way the vowels are clear and constant. There are a number of that differ from English. As an illustration, we train “i” as in “sit,” however in Spanish it’s “i” as in “ft.” 

*These imply “brief v” or “small v” or “lowercase v” to assist differentiate from the letter “b.”

Pronounce Spanish vowels with ease

Spanish vowels have just one sound every. In contrast to English, there aren’t any “brief” and “lengthy” vowel sounds. Every vowel sound is one single sound, pure and clear, with out gliding between vowel sounds such as you do with English diphthongs (mixing the “ah” and “ee” sounds within the phrases “sky” and “cry”).

Spanish vowels are terribly useful as you’re studying widespread Spanish nouns and different elements of speech. In case you apply by announcing a, e, i, o, u, you’re only a few consonant sounds away from with the ability to pronounce any Spanish phrase you may learn, and vice-versa. 

Suggestions for English audio system:

• The a is all the time “ah” and by no means just like the “a” in cat. Attempt gato (cat), pronounced “GAH-toh.”
• Pay explicit consideration to the e, pronounced like “ey” and the i, pronounced like “ee.” These will be simple to confuse. Attempt the phrases español pronounced “ey-spah-NYOHL” and increíble, “een-krey-EE-bley.” 
• You’ll want to keep away from a “y” sound in phrases with u like música pronounced “MOO-see-kah” and keep away from a “uh” sound in phrases like cultura, pronounced “kool-TOO-rah” 
• Apply a constant “oh” sound and keep away from “ah” in phrases like octubre (October), pronounced “ohk-TOO-brey”

Silent u in Spanish

The letter u will be silent in Spanish solely when it’s a part of the letter teams “gue,” “gui,” “que,” or “qui.” It’s pronounced if it has a diérisis, an accent mark consisting of two dots over the u, as in pingüino (penguin) or vergüenza (disgrace/embarrassment).

Silent h in Spanish

In most phrases, the Spanish letter h is silent. 

• ¡Hola! = Hiya
  
• ¿Qué hora es? = What time is it? 
  
• ¡Gracias y hasta luego! = Thanks and goodbye! 
  

One of many first phrases you discovered was hola (hello), and it’s pronounced precisely the identical as ola (wave). There are solely two exceptions to the h muda (silent “h”). 

1. The letter mixture ch as in churro. It makes the identical sound because the phrase “church.” Apply chocolate, chica (lady), noche (evening), and leche (milk). 
2. Some borrowed phrases from different languages use the “h” sound, comparable to passion or hockey. 

The h remains to be vital in spelling, nonetheless, and might have an effect on pronunciation by breaking apart two vowels. As an illustration, búho (owl) is pronounced “BOO-oh.” 

Pairs of phrases with and with out silent h and their meanings embody: 

• hecho (reality/carried out) vs echo (I throw/I kick out) 
• hasta (till) vs asta (antler/flagpole) 
• hora (hour) vs ora (he/she prays) 
• ¡hala! (wow, come on!) vs ala (wing) 

The Spanish ñ

Aside from the the wrong way up query mark and upside-down exclamation factors, is there something extra uniquely Spanish than the letter ñ? Thought-about its personal letter of the alphabet, the eñe has a novel accent mark. No different letter can use this explicit tilde (which might check with the opposite sort of accent mark as properly). You’ll discover it on each English and Spanish keyboard.

To pronounce ñ, say it just like the English phrases “canyon” or “onion.” 

• Yo soy de España. = I’m from Spain.
  
• Trabajo por la mañana. = I work within the morning. 
  

Hundreds of Spanish phrases have this sound. Apply a few of the most typical with this chart of phrases which have the letter ñ. 

Consonants with a couple of pronunciation in Spanish

As you may see within the chart above, most letters make the identical sound constantly, with only a few exceptions. The three exceptions in Spanish are the consonants c, g, and r. These consonants change in line with the vowel that follows. 

The letter c makes a “okay” sound when adopted by a, o, or u. However when adopted by an e or i, the c makes an “s” sound in Latin American Spanish and a “th” sound (as in “skinny”) in Peninsular Spanish.

The letter “g” makes a tough “g” sound as in “gravity” earlier than a, o, and u, however an “h” sound as in “hear” earlier than e and i. 

The Spanish letter r is rolled or trilled when in the beginning of a phrase, when it’s a double rr, or after “l,” “n,” and prefixes like “des” “pos” o “tras.” In any other case, it’s pronounced as a softer “d” sound, only one faucet of the tongue. 

How do accents have an effect on Spanish alphabet pronunciation? 

Accents are vital in Spanish, affecting the stress on the syllable, however not altering the pronunciation of particular person letters. Aside from the ñ mentioned above, vowels are the one letters of the Spanish alphabet that may have a tilde (accent mark). The Spanish tilde solely goes in a single path: á, é, í, ó, ú. 

The presence of a tilde over a vowel tells us to emphasise that syllable, inserting the stress of the phrase there. There is just one burdened syllable per phrase, so there received’t be a couple of of the sort of accent mark. 

However why do some phrases have accents and others don’t? Accents mark the place the phrase stress is irregular, which means that it differs from the traditional patterns. Most Spanish phrases are burdened on the penultimate (or second-to-last) syllable. When a phrase breaks these guidelines, they carry an accent. 

Take, as an illustration, the días de la semana (days of the week). 

• lunes (Monday)
  
• martes (Tuesday) 
  
• miércoles (Wednesday)
  
• jueves (Thursday)
  
• viernes (Friday)
  
• sábado (Saturday)
  
• domingo (Sunday)
  

The one two which have an accent are miércoles and sábado as a result of they break the anticipated sample. All the remaining stress the second-to-last syllable. 

Word that Spanish accent marks additionally mark stress on a weak vowel like i or u when it’s together with a powerful vowel like a, e, or o. Evaluate the distinction between the phrases cafetería (cah-feh-teh-REE-ah) and familia (fah-MEE-lee-ah). Within the first case, the accent signifies the stress falls on the í, however within the latter, the ia is pronounced as one syllable. 

How do audio system from totally different areas pronounce phrases in another way? 

There are numerous Spanish dialects, every with their very own vocabulary, Spanish slang, and accents. The distinction in pronunciation is most pronounced between Latin American Spanish and Peninsular Spanish (spoken by many in Spain) with the letters c and z. It’s not a “lisp” as some describe it, however a selected pronunciation of those letters. “S” makes the “s” sound in all Spanish dialects.

These are only a few of many regional variations present in Spanish dialects and pronunciations. These variations are a part of the superb linguistic range within the Spanish-speaking world. 

Grasp the Spanish alphabet and past

Grasp methods to pronounce the Spanish alphabet and also you’re properly in your solution to being simple to know whenever you communicate Spanish. What you may pronounce appropriately, you may spell, and vice-versa, so studying your sounds vale la pena (is price it) instances two. In case you’d like real-time suggestions in your pronunciation as you study, Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition know-how may help you construct confidence and proper any confusion as you apply.