Alphabet & Sounds

Front 1

A

Back 1

ah, ah as in Ana (ah-nah), also aye with i- ai, ow with u- au

Front 2

ai

Back 2

like the English "aye" (Aye Aye Captain!) as in Jaime (hi-meh)

Front 3

au

Back 3

ow as in Augusto (ow-goos-toh

Front 4

B

Back 4

beh, "beh grande", b as in Beatriz (beh-ah-trees), same as "v"

Front 5

C

Back 5

say, like k as in Carlos (car-lohs), or soft C before e or i

Front 6

c soft

Back 6

like s (before e or i) as in Graciela (grah-see-eh-lah)

Front 7

CH

Back 7

chay, ch as in Archibaldo (ar-chee-bahl-doh)

Front 8

D

Back 8

day, d as in David (dah-veed)

Front 9

E

Back 9

ay, eh (as in let); as in Elena (eh-leh-nah), plus 3 other ways preceeding i, r, or u

Front 10

ei

Back 10

ay as in day, as in Reinaldo (ray-nahl-doh)

Front 11

er

Back 11

air as in Fernando (fair-nahn-doh)

Front 12

eu

Back 12

eh-oo as in Eugenio (eh-oo-hen-ee-oh)

Front 13

F

Back 13

ef-ay, f as in Federico (feh-deh-ree-koh)

Front 14

G

Back 14

hay, hard g, except h before e or i as in Geofredo heh-oh-freh-do

Front 15

g hard

Back 15

like Gregorio (greh-gor-ee-oh)

Front 16

H

Back 16

ah-chay, silent as in Hugo (oo-goh)

Front 17

I

Back 17

ee, ee as in Isabel (ees-ah-bel)

Front 18

J

Back 18

hotah, h as in José (hoh-seh)

Front 19

K

Back 19

kah, k as in Kenia (ken-ee-ah)

Front 20

L

Back 20

el-ay, l as in Lucas (loo-kahs)

Front 21

LL

Back 21

ay-yay, y as in Guillermo (gee-yair-moh)

Front 22

M

Back 22

em-ay, m as in María

Front 23

N

Back 23

en-ay, n as in Nicolás (nee-koh-lahs)

Front 24

Ñ

Back 24

en-yay, n-y (as in canyon); as in España (es-pahn-yah)

Front 25

O

Back 25

oh, oh as in Olivia (oh-lee-vee-ah), oy preceeding i or y

Front 26

oy, oi

Back 26

oy as in Moisés (moy-ses)

Front 27

P

Back 27

peh, p as in Pedro

Front 28

Q

Back 28

coo, k as in Quintín (keen-teen), u has no sound after it

Front 29

R

Back 29

air-ay, r (slightly rolled) as in Rosa (roh-sah)

Front 30

RR

Back 30

airrr-ay, rr (heavily rolled) as in Inglaterra (een-glah-teh-rrah)

Front 31

S

Back 31

es-ay, s as in Samuel (sah-moo-el)

Front 32

T

Back 32

teh, t as in Tomás (toh-mahs)

Front 33

U

Back 33

oo, oo as in Urbano (oor-bah-noh), wa preceeding a or wey preceeding e

Front 34

ua

Back 34

wah as in Gualterio (gwahl-tair-ee-oh)

Front 35

ue

Back 35

weh as in Manuela (mah-nweh-lah)

Front 36

V

Back 36

beh, (beh pequeño), v as in Vicente (bee-sen-teh), same a "b"

Front 37

W

Back 37

doh-bleh-beh, v as in Washington (vah-sheeng-tohn), only used in foreign words

Front 38

X

Back 38

eh-keys, k-s as in Maximiliano (mahk-see-mee-lee-ah-noh)

Front 39

Y

Back 39

ee-gree-ay-gah, y (as in york) as in Nueva York (nweh-vah york)

Front 40

Z

Back 40

say-tah, s as in Zacarías (sah-kah-ree-ahs)

Front 41

las vocales débiles

Back 41

"i and u are called ""weak"" (débiles), which means that in combination with another vowel, they tend to lose their vocalic quality and sound like ""y"" and ""w"" (examples: bien has only one syllable [sílaba] and the vowel you hear is the ""e""; bueno has two syllables and sounds like ""bweno”).

Front 42

las vocales fuertes

Back 42

a, o, and e are called "strong" (fuertes). Two strong vowels are pronounced as two syllables: po·e·ma has three syllables, ca·os has two.

Front 43

next to last sylable is accented when

Back 43

ends in a vowel or -n or -s, clase, alumno, cantan, mesas, examen, naciones

Front 44

last sylable is accented when

Back 44

word ends in a consonant, except -n, or -s ciudad, papel, legal, cantar

Front 45

when a dipthong accented, the accent goes over

Back 45

the strong vowel: a, o, or e cáus ti co, na ción.

Front 46

la diéresis

Back 46

If the letter "u" is to be pronounced in a "gue/gui" combination, it is marked with a diaeresis: pingüino, bilingüe, nicaragüense

Front 47

double consonants

Back 47

only four cc,ll,nn,rr consonants can be duplicated to represent specific sounds: cc is used before "e" or "i" only and sounds ks: acción and acceso. ll sounds y: calle, llama. rr represents the famous "rolling r" between vowels only: perro, carro. nn is used only when a prefix ending in "n" is added to a word beginning with "n": innecesario, connotación. No other consonants are duplicated.

Front 48

accenting a weak vowel

Back 48

used to stress a weak vowel (i, u) that is followed or preceded by a strong vowel (a, e, o): dí·a, Ma·rí·a, Ra·úl, o·í·do, a·hí, ra·íz, mí·o, dú·o, ge·o·gra·fí·a

Front 49

accented one-sylable words

Back 49

done only to distinguish between words spelled the same but with different meanings- si/sí, el,él, se/sé

Front 50

capital letters- las mayúsculas- not used for

Back 50

days, months or religions: lunes, martes, enero, febrero, el budismo, un católico. Also not used for adjectives that come from cities, countries, or rivers- venezolano, norteamericano, panameña, guatemalteco, caribeño.

Front 51

capital letters- las mayúsculas- book titles

Back 51

In long titles (of books, stories, movies, etc.), only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized: La cabaña del tío Tom, Antología del cuento hispánico, Cien años de soledad.