Pronunciación
Pronunciación
The Spanish Alphabet – El Alfabeto (ABCdario)
There are 27 letters in the Spanish alphabet including “ñ” and “rr.” All the letters are pronounced with the exception of the letter “h” which is silent before any vowel but pronounced when accompanying the letter “Ch.”
Letra |
Nombre |
Ejemplo |
Pronunciación |
| A | a | Agua | Ah |
| B | be | Bien | |
| C | ce | Casa, cinco | C + a, o, u (strong sound) = “k” C + e, i (soft sound) = “s” |
| D | de | Días, perdón | “D” sound is soft between two vowels |
| E | e | Encantada | “eyh” |
| F | efe | Filosofía | |
| G | ge | Geografía, gusta | G + a, o, u (strong sound) =”guh” G + e, i (soft sound) =”huh” |
| H | hache | Hola | The h is SILENT (unless it is a ch) |
| I | i | Idioma, inglés | “ee” sound |
| J | jota | Jalapeño | Makes the same sound as the English “H” |
| K | ka | Kilo | |
| L | ele | Luego | |
| LL | elle | Me llamo | Double L makes a “Y” sound |
| M | eme | Mesa | |
| N | ene | Nada | |
| Ñ | eñe | Español | Makes the sound that you hear in “onion” |
| O | o | Otoño | |
| P | pe | Permiso | |
| Q | qu | Queso | “Q” — which always appears in combination with the letter “u” — is pronounced like the “k” in the word “kid” |
| R, RR | ere, erre | Pero, perro, Rosa | “r” sounds like the “dd” in words like “ladder” When the “r” is the first letter of the word, it is trilled like the “rr” |
| S | ese | Saludes | |
| T | te | Tengo | |
| U | u | Universidad | “oo” sounds like “boo” |
| V | ve | Vamos | “B” sound, some countries a little softer |
| W | doble u, doble ve | Wilson | |
| X | equis | Examen | “KS” sound, like “ek-samen” |
| Y | i griega, ye | Yo | |
| Z | zeta | Zapatos | “S” sound (except in Spain -th-) |
The Spanish Vowels: Las vocales
|
| It is helpful to pronounce well each vowel. There is only one way to pronounce them.
A- ah E- eyh I- ee O- o U- oo |
ACTIVIDAD #1
Please read out loud the following words, paying special attention to the vocalic sounds and stress. In case there is a written accent over the vowel, make more emphasis on that syllable:
| clase | español | universidad | cuaderno | niño hombre |
| buenas | libro | computador | José | Estados Unidos |
| hospital | perro | pero | nada | agua acá |
ACTIVIDAD #2
¿Cómo te llamas? Practice spelling your name and last name, writing down the name of each letter:
Example: John jota-o-ache-ene
Your last name (apellido): ______
Your name (nombre): _______
ACTIVIDAD #3
APODOS. Here are the most common Spanish nicknames. Can you match them with the first name? Guess as many as you can before you check with a classmate or the internet.
| 1. | Antonio | a. Paco |
| 2. | Ignacio | b. Fonsi |
| 3. | Alejandro | c. Toño |
| 4. | Mercedes | d. Chayo |
| 5. | Alberto | e. Chuy |
| 6. | Guillermo | f. Alejo |
| 7. | José | g. Memo |
| 8. | Rosario | h. Merche |
| 9. | Francisco | i. Beto |
| 10. | Jesús | j. Pepe |
| 11. | Guadalupe | k. Nacho |
| 12. | Alfonso | l. Lupe |
NicknamesIn the Spanish-speaking world, nicknames can sometimes seem harsh or even offensive. It is not offensive (generally) to refer to someone based on a physical characteristic.For example,Flaco, flaca, gorda, gordo, guero, guera, pelón, viejo. |
ACTIVIDAD #4
La geografía. Fill in the blanks with the missing letter from the Latin American countries below. Then spell it out.
La __epública Dominicana
Nicara__ua
Ve__ezuela
Co__ombia
Pe__ú
Boli__ia
C__ile
Urugua__
Actividad adapted from: Libro Libre: Beginning Spanish CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
