The Animated Book
of SpanishGrammar Reference

The Spanish Alphabet and Pronunciation

Adapted from The Animated Book of Spanish, an interactive Spanish grammar book.

The Spanish alphabet (el abecedario) has 27 letters: the 26 you know from English, plus ñ. Spanish is spelled the way it sounds, so once you know what each letter does, you can read almost any word out loud.
On this page

The 27 letters

Each card has the letter's Spanish name and two example words.

  • Aaa
    • aguawater
    • casahouse
  • Bbbe
    • barcoboat
    • bebébaby
    also be larga
  • Ccce
    • camabed
    • cenadinner
  • Ddde
    • dedofinger
    • nadanothing
  • Eee
    • escuelaschool
    • lechemilk
  • Ffefe
    • fuegofire
    • cafécoffee
  • Ggge
    • gatocat
    • gentepeople
  • Hhhache
    • holahello
    • hijoson
  • Iii
    • islaisland
    • librobook
  • Jjjota
    • jugojuice
    • ojoeye
  • Kkka
    • kilokilo
    • koalakoala
  • Llele
    • lunamoon
    • solsun
  • Mmeme
    • manohand
    • mamámom
  • Nnene
    • nochenight
    • panbread
  • Ññeñe
    • niñochild
    • añoyear
  • Ooo
    • osobear
    • ochoeight
  • Pppe
    • perrodog
    • papádad
  • Qqcu
    • quesocheese
    • quincefifteen
  • Rrerre
    • rosarose
    • perobut
  • Ssese
    • sopasoup
    • mesatable
  • Ttte
    • tomatetomato
    • tresthree
  • Uuu
    • uvagrape
    • luzlight
  • Vvuve
    • vacacow
    • nuevonew
    also ve corta
  • Wwuve doble
    • wifiWi-Fi
    • kiwikiwi
    also doble ve
  • Xxequis
    • taxitaxi
    • examenexam
  • Yyye
    • yoI
    • hoytoday
    also i griega
  • Zzzeta
    • zapatoshoe
    • lápizpencil

Vowels

Spanish has five vowel sounds, one for each vowel letter, and each one always sounds the same.

  • a

    ahlike the a in “father”

    • casahouse
    • mapamap
  • e

    ehlike the e in “met”

    • mesatable
    • tresthree
  • i

    eelike the i in “machine”

    • síyes
    • vinowine
  • o

    ohlike the o in “or”

    • todoeverything
    • nono
  • u

    oolike the oo in “food”

    • unoone
    • lunamoon

C: two sounds

Most of the time, c makes a k sound, like the c in cat.

  • cacocu

    klike the c in “cat,” also before a consonant

    • casahouse
    • cosathing
    • cuatrofour
    • claseclass

But before e or i, it makes an s sound.

  • ceci

    slike the s in “sun”

    • cenadinner
    • cinemovie theater
    • graciasthanks
    • onceeleven

QU: a silent u

So how do you write a k sound before e or i? With qu. In Spanish, q is always followed by a silent u.

  • quequi

    k- the u is silent

    • quesocheese
    • quieroI want
    • aquíhere
    • pequeñosmall

G: two sounds

G works a lot like c. Most of the time, it's a hard g, like the g in go.

  • gagogu

    glike the g in “go,” also before a consonant

    • gatocat
    • amigofriend
    • aguawater
    • grandebig

But before e or i, it makes the same sound as j: a strong h from the back of the throat.

  • gegi

    ha strong h, the same sound as j

    • gentepeople
    • páginapage
    • girasolsunflower
    • mágicomagic

GU and GÜ

To write a hard g before e or i, Spanish adds a silent u, just like qu.

  • guegui

    gthe u is silent

    • guerrawar
    • guitarraguitar
    • siguekeep going
    • hamburguesahamburger

When that u should be pronounced, it gets two dots (ü), and gü sounds like the gw in Gwen.

  • güegüi

    gwthe two dots mean you say the u

    • pingüinopenguin
    • vergüenzaembarrassment
    • bilingüebilingual

J and H

The Spanish j is the sound English writes with h, but stronger, from the back of the throat. In Spain, it's raspier, like the ch in Scottish loch.

  • jamónham
  • ojoeye
  • trabajowork
  • JorgeGeorge

The h, on the other hand, is always silent.

  • holahello
  • hoytoday
  • hablarto speak
  • ahoranow

B and V

In Spanish, b and v are pronounced exactly the same. At the start of a phrase or after m or n, it's like English b. Between vowels, it's softer: the lips come close together but don't quite touch.

  1. With b
    tubo

    tube

    With v
    tuvo

    he had

  2. With b
    botar

    to throw away

    With v
    votar

    to vote

  3. With b
    bello

    beautiful

    With v
    vello

    body hair

  • Víctor bebe vino blanco.

    Víctor drinks white wine.

  • ¿Vamos a la boda?

    Are we going to the wedding?

S and Z

S is always like the s in sun, never the buzzing z sound English uses in rose or music, even between vowels.

  • casahouse
  • rosarose
  • músicamusic
  • presidentepresident

Z doesn't buzz either. It sounds just like s, the same as ce and ci.

  • zapatoshoe
  • azulblue
  • lápizpencil
  • cervezabeer

R and RR

A single r between vowels is one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American butter. Rr is a trill, where the tongue flutters several times. An r at the start of a word, or after n, l, or s, is trilled too.

  1. r: a tap
    pero

    but

    rr: a trill
    perro

    dog

  2. r: a tap
    caro

    expensive

    rr: a trill
    carro

    car

  3. r: a tap
    cero

    zero

    rr: a trill
    cerro

    hill

  • El carro de Ricardo es rápido.

    Ricardo’s car is fast.

  • Rosa corre por el río.

    Rosa runs along the river.

LL and Y

In most places, ll and y sound the same, like the y in yes.

  • llavekey
  • callestreet
  • pollochicken
  • yoI
  • playabeach
  • ayeryesterday

When y is on its own (the word y, and) or at the end of a word, it's a vowel, just like Spanish i.

  • yand
  • hoytoday
  • muyvery
  • reyking

Ñ

Ñ is the one letter English doesn't have. It sounds like the ny in canyon. Don't leave the tilde off: año means year, but ano means anus.

  • niñochild
  • añoyear
  • mañanatomorrow
  • EspañaSpain

D, X, and double letters

D between vowels

At the start of a word, d is close to English d, with the tongue touching the back of the teeth. Between vowels and at the end of a word, it's soft, like the th in this.

  • nadanothing
  • cadaeach
  • verdadtruth
  • ustedyou

X

X is usually ks, like in English. In a few place names, it's an old spelling of the j sound: México sounds like “MEH-hee-co.”

  • taxitaxi
  • examenexam
  • MéxicoMexico
  • OaxacaOaxaca

Common spelling mistakes

  1. Leaving out the h

    Incorrect:Ola, ¿qué tal?
    Correct:Hola, ¿qué tal?

    The h is silent, but it's still written. (Ola means wave.)

  2. Forgetting the u after g

    Incorrect:Toco la gitarra.
    Correct:Toco la guitarra.

    Before e or i, g sounds like j. A silent u keeps it hard.

  3. Writing k for the k sound

    Incorrect:Kiero un café.
    Correct:Quiero un café.

    Before e or i, the k sound is spelled qu.

  4. Leaving off the dots on ü

    Incorrect:Vi un pinguino.
    Correct:Vi un pingüino.

    Without the dots, the u would be silent: “pin-GHEE-no.”

  5. Dropping the tilde on ñ

    Incorrect:Tengo veinte anos.
    Correct:Tengo veinte años.

    Años are years. Anos are something else entirely.

  6. Writing z before e or i

    Incorrect:Tengo dos lápizes.
    Correct:Tengo dos lápices.

    Z changes to c before e or i.

Questions about the alphabet

How many letters are in the Spanish alphabet?

27: the 26 letters of the English alphabet, plus ñ. Ch and ll used to count as letters too, but since 2010 they're treated as pairs of letters.

Is the h silent in Spanish?

Yes, always: hola sounds like "OH-la." The only exception is ch, which sounds like English "ch": chico, mucho.

Do b and v sound the same in Spanish?

Yes. Tubo (tube) and tuvo (he had) sound exactly the same. Between vowels, both are a soft b, with the lips almost touching.

How do you pronounce ñ?

Like the "ny" in "canyon": año sounds like "AH-nyo," and niño like "NEE-nyo."

Why do people in Spain pronounce z like th?

In most of Spain, z and c before e or i are pronounced like "th" in "think," while s stays an s. It's called distinción, and it's standard Spanish, not a lisp. In Latin America, they all sound like s.

Next upStress and accent marksThe two stress rules, when a word needs an accent, and accents that tell words apart.

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