Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Table 1.

The sounds of Spanish

Letter

Name

Pronunciation

Examples

aa

as in

hat,

never

hate

nor

above

anagrama

• each

a

has

the same sound

bbe

similar to English

b; strongest after

n

or

m

, or following a pause

balsa

, cambio

weaker between vowels

haba

cce

before

a,

o,

u

and consonants: as in

cat

casa

, acta

before

e

and

i: as

th

in

thin

in the centre and north of Spain and as

cena

s in

six

in Latin America and much of Andalusia (called

seseo

)

c hc he

as in

church

chacal

, chacha

dde

strongest after

n

or

l, or following a pause

anda

, balde

weaker between vowels or at the end of words, in some cases in

viñedo

, casado

,

Spain to the point of disappearance, e.g.

ado

>

ao

Madrid

, usted

overall less strong than English

d

and pronounced with the tongue

behind the top teeth and not on the ridge above the teeth, cf.

dead

and

dedo

‘finger’

ee

as in

egg,

not as

meet

, never silent as in English

pose

merece

• each

e

has

the same sound

f

efe

as in English

falta

gge

before

a,

o,

u: as in

go

, but less strong between vowels

gala

, daga

before

e

and

i: like

ch

in Scottish

loch

(never as in

general

)

gente

, giba