| 27 letters | five vowels, a, e, i, o, u; ñ is a letter of its own | niño / español | child / Spanish |
| Letter names | each name is a short word; spelling aloud uses the names | ¿Cómo se escribe Ana? — a, ene, a. | How do you spell Ana? — A, N, A. |
| v and w | v is called ve, and w doble uv is called uve, and w uve doble | ¿Con be o con ve?¿Con be o con uve? | With a b or with a v? |
| Two letters | ch / ll / rr / qu / gu write one sound with two letters | chico / calle / perro | boy / street / dog |
| Silent h | h is never pronounced | hola / hora | hello / hour |
| c and qu | c before a, o, u, qu before e, i, for one sound, /k/ | casa / queso | house / cheese |
| g and gu | g before a, o, u, gu before e, i, for one sound, /g/ | gato / guitarra | cat / guitar |
| z and c | z before a, o, u, c before e, i, for one sound, /s/z before a, o, u, c before e, i, for one sound, /θ/ | zapato / cine | shoe / cinema |
| j and g | j before any vowel and g before e, i sound the same, /x/ | jamón / gente | ham / people |
| b and v | one sound, /b/, with two spellings; each word keeps its own | bueno / vino | good / wine |
| ll and y | ll and y before a vowel sound the same, /ʝ/ | calle / yo | street / I |
| Small letters | days, months, languages and nationalities start with a small letter | Los lunes estudio inglés. | On Mondays I study English. |
| ¿ ? / ¡ ! | questions and exclamations open with an upside-down mark | ¿Dónde vives? / ¡Hola! | Where do you live? / Hello! |
| Trap | the u of gue and gui is silent; ü makes it sound | pingüino | penguin |