Pronunciación
Pronunciation of "l" and "ll"
In Spanish, the letter l is pronounced exactly as in English. The letter ll is pronounced
similar to the letter "y" in English.
buenos colegios Juan washed the clothes.
good schools Yo limpié la cocina.
reloj nuevo I cleaned the kitchen.
new watch, new clock ¿Trajiste los boletos?
Juan lavó la ropa. Did you bring the tickets?
ll
unas llantas But I got there late.
some tires Juan encontró las llaves que necesitabas.
¿Alguien me llamó? Juan found the keys that you needed.
Did somebody call me? Ellos no lo pudieron traer.
Pero yo llegué tarde. They could not bring it.
Pronunciation of "h" and "ch"
In Spanish, the letter h has no sound. The letter ch is pronounced like the letter "ch" in the
word "chair".
Hubo daños? agua con hielo. Hice mi tarea.
Were there damages? water with ice. I did my homework.
los huevos. Mi hermana se hizo monja.
the eggs. My sister became a nun.
ch
Mucho tiempo. The boys studied the lesson.
A lot of time. ¿Qué soñaste anoche?
Escuchaste la música? What did you dream last night?
Did you listen to the music? Un chiste que yo hice.
Los muchachos estudiaron la lección. A joke I made.
Pronunciation of "n" and "ñ"
In Spanish, the letter n is similar to English. The letter ñ is pronounced like the letter "ny"
in the word "canyon".
Nadie entra. Mi camisa es naranja. Aquí nunca nieva.
No one enters. My shirt is orange. It never snows here.
Sonarse la nariz. Yo camino en el parque.
to blow one's nose I walk in the park.
Niña divertida. La fiesta es mañana. Lavar la bañera.
Funny girl. The party is tomorrow. to wash the bathtub.
Baño público pequeño. El año pasado.
Small public bathroom. Last year.
A Dipthong is two vowels blended together to produce one sound. The different vowel
combinations create a slurring of the two vowels. When “u” combines with another vowel, a
“w” sound is produced (cuerpo). The "i” followed by another vowel, produces a consonant
“y” sound as in “year” (hielo, siete). The “ai” or “ay” combination is pronounced like the
word “eye” (hay).
A Triphthong is the combination of three vowels in the same syllable: A strong vowel in
between two weak vowels. "a", "e" and "o" are strong vowels. They never form diphthongs
together. They may form diphthongs and triphthongs only in combination with "I" and "U."
Diphthong: ai (ay) faisán - pheasant
aire - air traigo - I bring
baile - dance
hay - there is or there are Diphthong: ei (ey)
paisajes - landscapings seis - six
afeitarse - to shave ley - law
treinta - thirty pleito - lawsuit, fight
reina - queen
Diphthong: oi (oy) Diphthong: ui (uy)
hoy - today muy - very
estoy - I am ruido - noise
oigo - I hear cuidado - care
tiroides - thyroid Luis - Louis
soy - I go influir - to influence
coincidencia - coincidence construir - to construct
Diphthong: au Diphthong: eu
autobiografía - autobiography neutral - neutral
autor - author Europa - Europe
pausa - pause neumonía - pneumonia
fauna - fauna deuda - debt
aunque - even though neurótico - neurotic
bautismo - baptism
Diphthong: ie
Diphthong: ia viejo - old
ancianos - elderly cien - hundred
media - half cielo - sky
estudiar - to study siempre - always
esencia - essence viento - wind
infancia - infancy tiempo - time or weather
pronunciar - to pronounce
Diphthong: ua
Diphthong: io guante - glove
sucio - dirty adecuado - adequate
precio - price cuatro - four
capitolio - capital Ecuador - Ecuador
novios - bride and groom igual - equal
misterio - mystery guapo - handsome
delicioso - delicious
Diphthong: ue
Diphthong: iu bueno - good
ciudad - city ueves - Thursday
ciudadano - citizen bisabuelo - great-grandpa
veintiuno - twenty-one juego - game
triunfo - triumph muela - molar
viuda - widow fuerte - strong
viudo - widower
Diphthong: uo arduo - arduous
antiguo - old monstruo - monster
ambiguo - ambiguous Triphthong: without accent
fluorescente - fluorescent Paraguay - Paraguay
fructuoso - fruitful buey - ox
Uruguay - Uruguay guayaba - guaba
guau - woof (dog)
Triphthong: with accent
situáis - you all place
guiáis - you all guide
enviáis - you all send
estudiéis - you all study
despreciéis - you all despise
After the first syllable each succeeding one commences with a
consonant, as a-for-tu-na-da-men-te (fortunately), except when a
prefix occurs before a primitive word, as organizar (to organize).
des-or-ga-ni-zar to disorganise
When two consonants occur together one letter belongs to one syllable
and the other to the next, as:
ac-ci-den-te (accident) tem-po-ral-men-te temporarily
pe-ren-ne perennial in-me-dia-to immediate
Exception: bl, br, pl, pr, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr and tr are not divided. For example:
a-blan-dar to soften a-me-dren-tar to a-glo-me-rar to
li-bro book frighten agglomerate
a-pla-zar to postpone con-fla-gra-ción conflagr a-gran-dar to enlarge
a-pre-ciar to appreciate ation en-con-trar to meet
de-cla-mar to declaim re-fren-dar to
de-cre-tar to decree countersign
If any of these combinations occur together with a third consonant, this
of course will belong to the previous syllable, as:
em-bro-llar to entangle
If four consonants come together, two belong to the first syllable and
two to the next, as obs-tru-ir (to obstruct) .
"ll" and "rr," being treated as single letters, must not be divided,
as
ba-lle-na whale a-lla-nar to level
ca-lle a street tie-rra earth
abierto batería después miércoles plátano también
adiós buzón diablo nariz policía tenedor
alguien caída difícil oración rascacielos todavía
almacén champú inglés país razón único
árbol concierto lastima perdón recamara viaje
rancho sandia semáforo séptimo reservación
Word Pronunciation Categories
Words fall into three categories according to the way they are pronounced: agudas, graves,
esdrújulas..
1. Words that are stressed on the last syllable are called agudas. If an aguda ends in a
consonant other than n or s it is written without an accent mark. If an aguda ends in a
vowel, or n or s it carries a written accent mark.
Unaccented agudas Accented agudas
tapiz almacén
ciudad aquí
profesor canción
papel detrás
reloj está
2. Words that are stressed on the next to the last syllable are called "graves" (or llanas in
some countries). If a grave ends in a vowel or n ors it does not carry a written accent. If a
grave ends in a consonant other than n or s it carries a written accent mark.
Unaccented graves Accented graves
payaso ángel
orden débil
largo huésped
clase lápiz
3. Words that are stressed on the third to the last syllable are called "esdrújulas". All
esdrújula words carry a written accent. All esdrújula words carry a written accent.
aéreo esdrújula
artículo estómago
católico magnífico
Diphthongs and Breaking a Diphthong
4. A second use of the accent is to break a diphthong. Diphthongs are formed by combining
a strong vowel (a, e, o) with a weak vowel (i, u) or two weak vowels in a single syllable.
Examples:
seis junio ciudad
hacia miedo
If a strong and weak vowel appear together but do not form a syllable, the weak vowel
carries a written accent to break the diphthong.
Examples:
maíz había río
día Raúl
Accents to Distinguish Functions of Homonyms
5. There is a special accent mark called the acento desinencial that is used to distinguish the
function of words. It is used in cases of homonyms to distinguish the meaning, or where a
pronoun has changed functions. The accent in these cases is placed over the strong vowel of
the stressed syllable. Generally in the case of homonyms, the less frequently used meaning
will carry the written accent.
Unaccented Word Function (Eng) Accented Word Function (Eng)
aun even (conjunction) aún yet (adverb)
de of (preposition) dé subj. form of dar
el the (article) él he (pronoun)
si if (conjunction) sí yes (interjection)
te you (pronoun) té tea (noun)
tu your (possessive pronoun) tú you (personal pronoun)
mi my (possessive pronoun) mí me (direct object)
mas but más more (adverb)
Change of Function of Pronouns
1. este libro (adjective) meaning "this"
éste (demonstrative pronoun) meaning "this one"
2. que (relative pronoun) as in "el libro que veo en la mesa" meaning "that"
¿qué? (interrogative pronoun) meaning "what"
3. como (relative pronoun) meaning "as" Ex. "tan grande como un elefante"
¿cómo? (interrogative pronoun) meaning "how" ¿Cómo está usted?
As a rule all interrogative pronouns carry a written accent.
The Phonetic Function of the Written Accent
The examples below show the important phonetic function of the written accent in Spanish.
These words are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and have different
meanings. Without the written accent mark they could be misread within a text.
Two syllable words:
Palabras Graves Palabras Aguda
sello selló
ésta está
ira irá
baile bailé
mudo mudó
cerro cerró
caso casó
cortes cortés
trago tragó
lavo lavó
Three and four syllable words:
Palabras Esdrújulas Palabras Graves Palabras Agudas
ánimo animo animó
público publico publicó
círculo circulo circuló
cántara cantara cantará
cálculo calculo calculó
célebre celebre celebré
práctico practico practicó
término termino terminó
límite limite limité
depósito deposito depositó
partícipe participe participé
Word Inflection and Accent Marks
Changing a word from singular to plural or from masculine to feminine adds a syllable to the
word. This may cause the word to lose or add an accent mark.
Singular Plural
lección lecciones
corazón corazones
compás compases
razón razones
portugués portugueses
joven jóvenes
orden órdenes
interés intereses
examen exámenes
galán galanes
Masculine Feminine
francés francesa
inglés inglesa
catalán catalana
