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The table below presents letter-sound correspondences in the order of the traditional Spanish alphabet. (Refer to the article Writing system of Spanish in Wikipedia for details on the Spanish alphabet and alphabetization.)
| Letter | Name of the letter | IPA | Pronunciation of the letter (English approximation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a | a | Like a in father |
| B b | be, be larga, be alta | b | Like b in bad. |
| ? | Between vowels, the lips should not be fully closed when pronouncing the sound (somewhat similar to the v in value, but much softer). | ||
| C c | ce | ?/s | Before the vowels e and i, like th in thin (most of Spain) or like c in center (Parts of Andalucía, Canary Islands and Americas). |
| k | Everywhere else; like c in coffee | ||
| Ch ch | che | t? | Like ch in church. |
| D d | de | d | Does not have an exact English equivalent. Sounds similar to the d in day, but instead of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth behind the teeth, it should touch the teeth themselves. |
| ð | Between vowels, the tongue should be lowered so as to not touch the teeth (somewhat similar to the th in the). | ||
| E e | e | e | Like e in ten, and the ay in say. |
| F f | efe | f | Like f in four. |
| G g | ge | g | Like g in get. |
| ? | Between vowels (where the second vowel is a, o or u), the tongue should not touch the soft palate (no similar sound in English, but it's somewhat like Arabic ghain). | ||
| x | Before the vowels e and i, like a Spanish j (see below). | ||
| H h | hache | Silent, unless combined with c (see above). Hu- or hi- followed by another vowel at the start of the word stand for /w/ (English w) and /j/ (English y). Also used in foreign words like hámster, where it is pronounced like a Spanish j (see below). | |
| I i | i | i | Like e in he. Before other vowels, it approaches y in you. |
| J j | jota | x | Like the ch in loch, although in many dialects it may sound like English h. |
| K k | ka | k | Like the k in ask. Only used in words of foreign origin - Spanish prefers c and qu (see above and below, respectively). |
| L l | ele | l | Does not have an exact English equivalent. It is similar to the English "l" in line, but shorter, or "clipped." Instead of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth behind the teeth, it should touch the tip of the teeth themselves. |
| Ll ll | doble ele, elle | ?/? | Pronounced, mostly in Northern Spain, like gl in the Italian word gli. Does not have an English equivalent, but it's somewhat similar to li in million. In other parts of Spain and in Latin America, ll is commonly pronounced as /?/ (somewhat similar to English y, but more vibrating). In Argentina and Uruguay it can be like sh in "flash" or like the s in the English "vision". |
| M m | eme | m | Like m in more. |
| N n | ene | n | Like n in no. Before p, b, f and v (and in some regions m) sounds as m in important. For example un paso sounds umpaso. Before g, j, k sound (c, k , q), w and hu sounds like n in anchor: un gato, un juego, un cubo, un kilo, un queso, un whisky, un hueso. Before y sound (y or ll), it sounds like ñ, see below. |
| Ñ ñ | eñe | ? | /nj/]] (ny) + vowel, as in canyon, where the y is very short. For example, when pronouncing "años", think of it as "anyos", or an-yos. To practice, repeat the onomatopoeia of chewing: "ñam, ñam, ñam". |
| O o | o | o | Like o in more, without the following r sound. |
| P p | pe | p | Like p in port. |
| Q q | cu | k | Like q in quit. As in English, it is always followed by a u, but before e or i, the u is silent (líquido is pronounced /'li.ki.ðo/). The English /kw/ sound is normally written cu in Spanish (cuanto), although qu can be used for this sound in front of a or o (quásar, quórum). |
| R r | ere, erre | ? | This has two pronunciations, neither of which exist in English. The 'soft' pronunciation [?] sounds like American relaxed pronunciation of tt in "butter", and is written r (always written r). |
| r | The 'hard' pronunciation [r] is a multiply vibrating sound, similar to Scottish rolled r (generally written rr). 'Hard' r is also the sound of [r] at the start of a word or after l, n or s. | ||
| S s | ese | s | Like s in six. In many places it's aspirated in final position, although in Andalusia it is not itself pronounced, but changes the sound of the preceding vowel. (See regional variations). In most parts of Spain, it's pronounced as a sound between [s] and [?]. |
| T t | te | t | Does not have an exact English equivalent. Like to the t in ten, but instead of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth behind the teeth, it should touch the teeth themselves. |
| U u | u | w | before another vowel (especially after c), like w in twig. |
| In the combinations gue and gui', it is silent unless it has a diaresis (güe, güi), in which case it is as above: w. | |||
| u | Everywhere else, like oo in pool, but shorter. | ||
| V v | uve, ve, ve corta, ve baja | b, ? | Identical to Spanish b (see above). The pronunciation "v" is regarded as an over-cultism. |
| W w | uve doble, doble ve, doble u | b, ?, w | Used only in words of foreign origin (Spanish prefers u). Pronunciation varies from word to word: watt is pronounced like bat or huat, but kiwi is always pronounced like quihui. |
| X x | equis | ks | Like ks (English x) in extra. In some cases it may be pronounced like gs or s. |
| ? | In words of Amerindian origin, like sh in she. | ||
| x | Note that x used to represent the sound of sh, which then evolved into the sound now written with j. A few words have retained the old spelling, but have modern pronunciation /x/. Most notably, México and its derivatives are pronounced like Méjico. | ||
| Y y | i griega, ye | i | It sounds as a vowel [i]: a. when it is a word itself (y /i/, meaning "and" in English), b. at the end of a word like in rey /rei/ ("king"), c. in the middle of a compound word like in Solymar (sol y mar /so.li'mar/, meaning "sun and sea"), d. at the beginning of a word followed by a consonant in words or names that have retained an old spelling (Yfrán /i'f?an/). |
| ? | It sounds as a consonant [?] in any other position: reyes /'re.?es/, yeso /'?e.so/. This standard pronunciation for y as a consonant does not have a perfect English equivalent, but it is somewhat similar to English y (just more vibrating). In Argentina and Uruguay y is pronounced similar to the English sh (/?/) in she, or /?/ (like English s in vision). | ||
| Z z | zeta, ceda | ?, s | Always the same sound as a soft c i.e. either /?/ (most of Spain) or /s/ (elsewhere). See c for details. |
