Spanish 1 / Unit 1: Greetings and Introductions
1.5 The Alphabet and Pronunciation
Notes
Spanish is spelled almost exactly as it sounds. The five vowels always keep the same sound.
| Letter | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | "ah" | casa |
| e | "eh" | mesa |
| i | "ee" | sí |
| o | "oh" | foto |
| u | "oo" | uno |
- h is silent: hola sounds like "OH-lah."
- ñ (eñe) sounds like "ny" in canyon: mañana, año.
- j and g before e or i sound like a strong English h: jugo, gente.
- ll and y usually sound like English y: llamo, yo. rr is a rolled r: perro.
- Stress: words ending in a vowel, n or s stress the second-to-last syllable (ca-sa); others stress the last syllable (pro-fe-sor). A written accent marks an exception: lápiz, canción.
Practice
Which letter is silent in Spanish?
The h is never pronounced: hola, hasta.
How is the "j" in "jugo" pronounced?
Spanish j sounds like a breathy h.
Why does "lápiz" need a written accent?
Words ending in a consonant other than n or s are normally stressed on the last syllable, so the accent marks the exception: LÁ-piz.
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