Foundations
A1Pronunciation, stress and spelling – the basics. Every rule with an example.
Overview
Pronunciation, stress and spelling – the basics. Every rule with an example.
- 1.The 5 vowels
- 2.c and z
- 3.g, j and gu/gü
- 4.The silent h
- 5.ll, ñ and rr
- 6.b and v sound the same
- 7.Stress rules
- 8.Diacritical accents
- 9.Diphthongs and hiatus
- 10.¿ ¡ and lowercase
Rules
101The 5 vowels
Spanish has 5 pure vowels that always sound the same: a, e, i, o, u. Short and clear – no gliding like in English.
- casa — housea as in “father”
- mesa — table
- uno — one
2c and z
c before e/i and z sound like a soft “s” (in Spain like English “th”). c before a/o/u sounds like “k”.
- cinco — fiveci = “si/thi”
- zapato — shoe
- casa — houseca = “ka”
3g, j and gu/gü
g before e/i and j sound harsh (like the “ch” in Scottish “loch”). For a hard “g” before e/i write gu (silent u); to pronounce the u, write ü: güe/güi.
- gente — peoplege = harsh “he”
- guitarra — guitargu = hard “gi”, silent u
- pingüino — penguinthe ü is pronounced
4The silent h
The letter h is always silent. But the combination ch sounds like English “ch”.
- hola — hellosounds like “ola”
- hombre — man
- muchacho — boych = “ch”
5ll, ñ and rr
ll sounds like “y” (as in “yes”). ñ is “ny” (as in “canyon”). rr is a strongly rolled r.
- llave — keyll = “y”
- niño — child/boy
- perro — dogrolled rr – perro ≠ pero
6b and v sound the same
b and v are pronounced identically (both like a soft “b”). You simply have to memorize the spelling.
- vivir — to livesounds like “bibir”
- bueno — good
7Stress rules
Without an accent: words ending in a vowel, -n or -s are stressed on the SECOND-TO-LAST syllable (llanas); all others on the LAST syllable (agudas). If the stress differs, a written accent (tilde) appears. Words stressed on the third-to-last syllable (esdrújulas) ALWAYS carry an accent.
- casa — houseends in a vowel → llana, no accent (CA-sa)
- hablar — to speakends in -r → aguda (ha-BLAR)
- canción — songends in -n but stressed on the last syllable → accent needed
- música — musicesdrújula → always an accent (MÚ-si-ca)
8Diacritical accents
Some short words are distinguished only by the accent – it changes the meaning, not the pronunciation.
- tú / tu — you / your
- él / el — he / the
- sí / si — yes / if
- más / mas — more / but
- qué / que — what? / that
9Diphthongs and hiatus
Weak vowels (i, u) combine with strong ones (a, e, o) into a diphthong = one syllable. An accent on the weak vowel splits the syllables (hiatus).
- bien — wellie = one diphthong, one syllable
- día — dayí splits: dí-a (two syllables)
10¿ ¡ and lowercase
Questions and exclamations are framed by inverted and normal marks: ¿…? ¡…! Weekdays, months, languages and nationalities are lowercase.
- ¿Cómo estás? — How are you?
- ¡Hola! — Hello!
- lunes, enero, español — Monday, January, Spanish – all lowercase
Test
20Test yourself – every rule is checked. You get a score at the end.