The Alphabet and Spelling
A0Foundations 10 min
The 27 letters of the Spanish alphabet with their names and sounds, and the spelling rules that tie each sound to its letters. The letter h is written but never pronounced: hola, hora
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CheatsheetA0
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
The alphabetA0
27 letters. Vowels: a, e, i, o, u. The other 22 are consonants, ñ among them.
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a | /a/ | amigo — friend |
| B b | be | /b/ | boca — mouth |
| C c | ce | /k/ · /s//k/ · /θ/ | casa / cine — house / cinema |
| D d | de | /d/ | dedo — finger |
| E e | e | /e/ | escuela — school |
| F f | efe | /f/ | fuego — fire |
| G g | ge | /g/ · /x/ | gato / gente — cat / people |
| H h | hache | no sound | hola — hello |
| I i | i | /i/ | isla — island |
| J j | jota | /x/ | joven — young |
| K k | ka | /k/ | kilo — kilo |
| L l | ele | /l/ | luna — moon |
| M m | eme | /m/ | mesa — table |
| N n | ene | /n/ | noche — night |
| Ñ ñ | eñe | /ɲ/ | niño — child |
| O o | o | /o/ | ojo — eye |
| P p | pe | /p/ | pan — bread |
| Q q | cu | /k/ | queso — cheese |
| R r | erre | /ɾ/ · /r/ | pero / rojo — but / red |
| S s | ese | /s/ | sol — sun |
| T t | te | /t/ | tren — train |
| U u | u | /u/ | uva — grape |
| V v | veuve | /b/ | vino — wine |
| W w | doble uuve doble | /w/ | kiwi — kiwi |
| X x | equis | /ks/ · /x/ | taxi / México — taxi / Mexico |
| Y y | ye / i griega | /ʝ/ · /i/ | yo / hoy — I / today |
| Z z | zeta | /s//θ/ | zapato — shoe |
- The names of the vowels are their sounds: a, e, i, o, u.
- ñ is a letter of its own and comes after n in the dictionary.
- k and w appear mostly in words from other languages: kilo, kiwi. w sounds /w/ in most of them and /b/ in a few names: Wagner.
- x sounds /ks/: taxi. In México, Oaxaca and Texas it keeps an old sound, /x/, the sound of j.
- Ye is the name the Real Academia Española recommends for y; i griega is still common.
- To spell a word aloud, say the names of its letters: ¿Cómo se escribe tu apellido? — Pe, e, erre, e, zeta: Pérez. — How do you spell your surname? — P, E, R, E, Z: Pérez.
- Latin America: To tell b from v when spelling, many speakers say be larga and ve corta.
- Latin America: Many speakers also call w doble ve.
Sounds and their lettersA0
| Sound | Spelling | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /k/ | c + a, o, u / qu + e, i | casa / quince | house / fifteen |
| /g/ | g + a, o, u / gu + e, i | gato / guitarra | cat / guitar |
| /x/ | j / g + e, i | jamón / gente | ham / people |
| /s//θ/ | z + a, o, u / c + e, i | zapato / cine | shoe / cinema |
| /b/ | b / v | bueno / vino | good / wine |
| /ʝ/ | ll / y | calle / yo | street / I |
| /tʃ/ | ch | chico / noche | boy / night |
| /r/ | rr / r | perro / rojo | dog / red |
| no sound | h | hola / hora | hello / hour |
- The u of que / qui / gue / gui is silent; it only marks the sound.
- Two dots, ü, make the u of gue and gui sound: pingüino / vergüenza — penguin / shame
- The strong r, /r/, is rr between vowels, and one r at the start of a word; elsewhere r is the soft /ɾ/.
- Spain: In most of Spain, z and c before e, i sound /θ/, like th in English think, and s keeps /s/.
- Latin America: s, z and c before e, i all sound /s/, so casa and caza sound alike.
- Latin America: In Argentina and Uruguay, ll and y sound /ʃ/, like sh in English she, or /ʒ/: calle, yo.
Small letters and question marksA0
- Days, months, languages and nationalities start with a small letter: Los lunes estudio inglés. — On Mondays I study English.
- Names of people, cities and countries start with a capital letter: Ana vive en Lima. — Ana lives in Lima.
- A question opens with ¿ and an exclamation with ¡: ¿Dónde vives? / ¡Qué bonito! — Where do you live? / How pretty!
- The opening mark goes where the question starts, even inside a sentence: Y tú, ¿de dónde eres? — And you, where are you from?
Typical errorsA0
| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Hoy es Lunes. | Hoy es lunes. | days take a small letter |
| Hablo Español. | Hablo español. | languages take a small letter |
| Dónde vives? | ¿Dónde vives? | a question opens with ¿ |
| Me gusta el keso. | Me gusta el queso. | qu writes this sound before e, i |
| Toco la gitarra. | Toco la guitarra. | gu keeps the sound of gato before e, i |
| Ola, Ana. | Hola, Ana. | the silent h is still written |