Vowels
Vowels in Spanish are pronounced consistently and they
are always short. In combinations vowels are always pronounced individually.
Written as
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Example
|
Sound clip
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a
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casa, padre
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e
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leche, tren
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i
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fin, distinto
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o
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coche, honrado
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u
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uno, fruta
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u + e
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bueno
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i + e
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tiene
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e + i
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aceite
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i + u
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ciudad
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Consonants
Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The exceptions
are:
Written as
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Example
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Sound clip
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v
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vacaciones, viejo
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z
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zumo, zapato
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c + i/e
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cine, centro
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| c + other
letters |
casa, coche |
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h
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hermano, helado
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j
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jamón, jota
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g + i/e
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gente, gigante
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ñ
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niño, piña
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r beginning of word
and after l, n, s
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rojo, sonrisa
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r between vowels
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pero, caro
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rr
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perro, carro
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Combinations
Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The exceptions
are:
Written as
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Example
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Sound clip
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qu
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queso, quiero
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cu
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cuello
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ll
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llave, calle
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gu + i/e
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guerra, guitarra
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gu + a
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guapo
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Stress
Words in Spanish are stressed as follows:
- word ending in a vowel or n or s – on
the penultimate syllable
casa, quieren, comes
- word ending in any other consonant – on last syllable
hablar, salud
- irregular stress shown by an accent
película
Alphabet
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Sound clip
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ABC
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DEF
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GHI
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JKL
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MNN
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OPQ
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RST
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UVW
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XYZ
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