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Spanish Alphabet: Letters and Pronunciation

Learn the Spanish alphabet and the pronunciation of each letter with this post from Enforex.

A: like the a in father
E: for a syllable ending in a vowel, like the e in they and for a syllable ending in a consonant, like the e in set
I: like the i in machine
O: for a syllable ending in a vowel, like the o in vote and for a syllable ending in a consonant, like the o in spot
U: like the oo in tool; silent after q and in the groups gue and gui

Y: when used as a vowel, pronounced like Spanish i
B, V: at the beginning of a word or following a consonant, like the b in body. Otherwise, a sound crossed between the English b and v sounds
C: before a consonant or a, o, u like the c in cave; before e or i, like the s in silver. *In Spain, the c before e or i is often lisped like the th in this
CH: like the ch in child
D: like the d in dark; between vowels and following l or n, pronounced like the th in there
F: like the f in flower
G: before e or i like the Spanish j (English "h" sound). Otherwise, like the g in get
H: silent
J: like an h but stronger. Almost silent at the end of a word
K: like the k in kid
L: like the l in leave
LL: like the y in you
M:like the m in maze
N: like the n in navy
Ñ: like the sound of the ni in onion
P: like the p in pain
Q: like a k, and always followed by a silent u
R: pronounced with a strong trill ("rolling an r") at the beginning of a word and after an l, n or s; minimal trill at the end of the word; medium trill for other positions
S: like the z in zebra before consonants b, d, g, l, m, n. Otherwise, like the s in simple
T: like the t in terror
V: same as b
W: usually like a v
X: like the x in fox when between vowels; like an s before consonant
Y: like the y in yellow
Z: like an s. *In Spain, the z is often lisped like the th in feather

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