The Spanish alphabet

SPANISH PRONUNCIATION KEY — VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

Important Tip: For successful pronunciation in Spanish keep the vowels short.

Consonants are constantly pronounced but some are modified when preceded or located in between certain letters.

Spanish Letter	English Sound	As in
a – el padre	ah	pad (with a short a)
e – tengo	ay	ten (with a short e)
i – no es el fin del mundo	ee	pronounced in between fin and me (short)
o – una foto	oh	pronounced in between fog and foe (short)
u – por gusto (for fun)	oo	good
ll – llamar la policía	y	Yankee
v – volver a casa	‘b’ at beginning of word, slightly softer ‘b’ between 2 vowels	big, bag
ñ – hasta mañana (see you tomorrow)	ny	canyon
r – pero (but)	almost like a ‘d’ when in between 2 vowels	comer
rr – la terra	‘r’ with a roll of the tongue	any time there is adouble ‘rr’ it is pronounced with a stronger roll
d – delta	almost like a th when in between 2 vowels	delta
j – jugar	hard h	like the ch in the Scottish loch
g – gente	g, sometimes a h	go
qu – ¡qué noche! what a night!	k	Korea
ai / all / ay	eye	eye
z – zona	like a soft ‘th’ (in most parts of Spain)	theme
z, ce, ci	ce, ci and z are pronounced ‘see’ in South America and some part of the south of Spain	see

Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like FUN! – Colleen Barrett

SPANISH PRONUNCIATION KEY — ALPHABET KEY

a	ah	j	hoh-tah	r	air-ay
b	bay	k	kah	rr	airr-ay
c	say	l	ay-lay	s	ay-say
ch	chay	ll	ay-yay	t	tay
d	day	m	ay-may	u	oo
e	ay	n	ay-nay	v	oo-bay
f	ay-fay	ñ	ayn-yay	w	doh-blay-bay
g	hey	o	oh	x	ah-kees
h	ah-chay	p	pay	y	ee-gree-ay-gah
i	ee	q	koo	z	say-tah