Pronunciation Guide

The Spanish Alphabet

The Spanish alphabet has more letters than the English alphabet. If nothing is noted, the letter sounds as it does in English.

Letter	Letter Name	Sound
A	ah	As in taco.
B	beh	Pronounced softly, with lips slightly parted. V is pronounced the same way, so when the spelling is confusing, ask “V de vaca o B de burro?”
C	seh	As in English, usually a hard K sound, but a soft S sound if followed by E or I. Ex: educación = ed-oo-ka-see-own´
Ch	cheh	As in chicken, but a separate letter in Spanish.
D	deh	Pronounced softly, with tongue against the teeth.
E	eh	As in bet.
F	é-fe
G	heh	Hard G if followed by any letter but E or I, but an H sound if followed by E or I. Ex: gente = hen´-te
H	á-che	H is silent in Spanish, except when coupled with Ch. Ex: hora = o´-ra
I	ee	As in eat.
J	hota	J is pronounced H. Ex: jugo = hoó-go
K	ka
L	é-le
LL	eh´-yeh	LL is a Y sound in Spanish. Ex: llama = yá-ma
M	é-me
N	é-ne
Ñ	en´-ye	The Ñ is pronounced NYuh, as in canyon. Ex: Español = es-pa-nyol´
O	oh	As in taco. Don’t add the English W sound at the end.
P	peh	Pronounced softly, not as hard as in English.
Q	koo	As in English, Q is always followed by U but pronounced with a K sound. Ex: que = kay
R	é-re
RR	er´-re	RR is a rolled r sound, with the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
S	é-se
T	teh	Pronounced softly, with tongue against the teeth.
U	ooh	As in boo.
V	beh	Pronounced softly, with lips slightly parted. B is pronounced the same way, so when the spelling is confusing, ask “V de vaca o B de burro?”
W	dó-blay ooh	Since there are no words with W in Spanish, it is only used to spell English transliterated words. Ex: www.ababooks.com
X	é-kees	Usually pronounced as in English, but in Mexico it sometimes has an H sound between vowels. Ex: exactamente = Ecks-ak-ta-men´-tay Ex: México = meh´-hee-koh
Y	ee-gree- aý-gah	Pronounced EEH when alone, and like the English Y when before a vowel.
Z	sé-ta	Pronounced as an English S.