1. Alphabet

Spanish alphabet is composed by 27 letters, 5 of them are vowels (vocales) and 22 consonants (consonantes).
The table below shows all the letters, I could explain one by one how to pronounce them but I think the best and the easiest way is to listen and practice. Most of these sounds are very easy to pronounce, just try!.
Note: The letters and sounds that are a little bit more complex will be explained in the next pronunciation lessons.
Read, listen and practice...
Letter |
Sound |
Ejemplo |
Example |
||
a |
a |
/a/ |
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la casa, la comida |
the house, the food |
b |
be |
/b/ |
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la botella, el balón |
the bottle, the ball |
c |
ce |
/k/,/θ/,/s/ |
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* Lesson 2 * |
|
d |
de |
/d/ |
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el día, el deporte |
the day, the sport |
e |
e |
/e/ |
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el edificio, la escalera |
the building, the stairs |
f |
efe |
/f/ |
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el fuego, la fruta |
the fire, the fruit |
g |
ge |
/ɡ/,/x/,/h/ |
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* Lesson 3 * |
|
h |
hache |
mute |
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hola, el hospital |
hello, the hospital |
i |
i |
/i/ |
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la iglesia, el idioma |
the church, the language |
j |
jota |
/x/,/h/ |
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el jardín, el juego |
the garden, the game |
k |
ka |
/k/ |
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el kanguro, el ketchup |
the kangaroo, the ketchup |
l |
ele |
/l/ |
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el limón, el lapicero |
the lemon, the pencil |
m |
eme |
/m/ |
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la madre, el mes |
the mother, the month |
n |
ene |
/n/ |
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el número, la naranja |
the number, the orange |
ñ |
eñe |
/ɲ/ |
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España, el pañal |
Spain, the dipper |
o |
o |
/o/ |
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el ojo, el oído |
the eye, the ear |
p |
pe |
/p/ |
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el país, el pez |
the country, the fish |
q |
cu |
/k/ |
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* Lesson 4 * |
|
r |
erre |
/r/,/ɾ/ |
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* Lesson 5 * |
|
s |
ese |
/s/ |
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el sábado, la sopa |
the saturday, the soup |
t |
te |
/t/ |
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la tetera, la tarta |
the teapot, the pie |
u |
u |
/u/ |
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uno, la universidad |
one, the university |
v |
uve |
/b/ |
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la vaca, el vino |
the cow, the wine |
w |
uve doble |
/ɡw/ |
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la web, el water polo |
the web, the water polo |
x |
equis |
/ks/ |
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el xilófono, el taxi |
the xylophone, the taxi |
y |
i griega |
/ʝ/,/i/ |
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el yogur, la playa |
the yogurt, the beach |
z |
zeta |
/θ//s/ |
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los zapatos, la plaza |
the shoes, the square |
Note: A lot of people has problems to pronounce "z", if you want an explanation go to the next lesson. The way to pronounce "z" is the same than "c" when it's followed by "e" or "i".