Spanish: An Essential Grammar

gu

before

e

or

iis pronounced like

g

in English

go

(the

u

is silent)

guerrilla

, guiño

gu

before

a, and

gü

, are pronounced like

gw

in

Gwen

averiguar

, pingüe

h

hache

silent

hora

ii

as

ee

in

meet

, never as in

pit

pita

jjota

like

g

before

e

and

i, i.e. as

ch

in Scottish

loch

jaca

, migaja

, reloj

kka

mainly in foreign words, like

c

in English

cat

kilo

l

ele

similar to

l in English

clear

Lola

, Lima

ll

elle

for purists, like

lli

in English

million

, but today frequently softened to

calle

, llevar

yas in English

yes

, especially in Andalusia and parts of Latin America

(called

yeísmo

); in the River Plate and some other areas, close to

sin

pleasure

m

eme

as

m

in English

memo

n

ene

as

n

in English

nene

ñ

eñe

more like

ny

in

canyon

than

ni

in opinion

España

, caña

oo

as the

o

in English

not,

a single sound, so never as in

vote

locomotor

, ñoño

• each

o

has the same sound

ppe

similar to English, but less aspirated

Pedro

silent in the combinations

pt

and

ps

psicología

sometimes dropped in writing from the combination

pt

(and

septiembre

/setiembre

occasionally from

ps

)

qcu

always followed by

u

qui

and

que

like

c

in

cat

quema

, saque

qua

and

quo

as

quick

quásar

, quórum