Spanish is fairly easy to pronounce. With these basics, you can pronounce most words correctly, or at least well enough to be understood.
- The vowels each have one sound. How to pronounce each in parentheses: a (ah), e (eh), i (ee), o (oh), u (oo).
- The consonants sound like they do in English with these exceptions:
- “j” sounds like “h”
- “ll” sounds like “y”
- “g” when followed by “e” or “i” sounds like “h” otherwise it sounds like “g” in the word “go”.
- “c” when followed by “e” or “i” sounds like “s” otherwise it sounds like “c” in the word “car”
- “h” is silent in words
- “ñ” sounds like “ny”
- “qu” sounds like “k” in the word “kite”
- “v” sounds like “b” at the beginning of a word
- “ch” sounds like “ch” in the word “chance”
- “y” is never a vowel and sounds like “y” in “yo-yo”
Visit my Free Worksheets page for a free worksheet and audio for pronunciation practice on g, c, and h.
Enjoy!
Debbie