El alfabeto

The Spanish alphabet is very much like your own.

Las Vocales

ah

Like the a in father

•Ana

•sala

•casa

•blanca

Las Vocales

eh

Like the e in met

•leche

•elefante

•ella

•Elsa

Las Vocales

eee

Like the i in machine

•Isabel

•Ines

•lista

•Elisa

Las Vocales

ohh

Like the o in obey

•poco

•loco

•pronto

•Paco

Las Vocales

oooo

Like the u in rule or oo in boot

•luna

•mucha

•muchacha

•lunes

Culture…

El burro sabe mas que tu.

The rest of the alphabet….

not quite as explosive as in the English alphabet. bebe; bebé

ce

a

be

1. soft c like c in cent or s in sent. (before the vowels e or i) principal, precio, cesta

2. hard c like in can’t or the letter k. (before all other letters) poco, cinco

abuela,Ana

Like the ch in church chico,coche, cucarachache

1. Like d in dog – after n or / at the beginning of a word dedo,dado, dar

2. Like a th – within a word & at the end of a word. nada, ensalada, Usted; Madrid

de

e elefante,leche, Eva

Like the f in fork familia,feo, felizefe

1.soft g like h in hint or house (before the vowels e & i) gente, geometría, general

2.hard g like g in go or gum (before all other letters) goma, tengo, garage

ge

hache

The letter h is never pronounced. hola, hora, Bohórquez

Familia, felizi

Like h in house but stronger junio, julio, jamón

jota

ka kilo,kilometro (in foreign words)

Lola, limón, Limaele

Like yes or year

tortilla, ella, ellos

elle

eme Mario, mi, manzana, melón

no, nombre, ningunoene

Similar to ny in canyon niño, año, otoño

ene

o ojo, oranguntán

~

Pepe, para, papape

Like the c in come queso, que, Quito, quién

(Always followed by ue or ui)

“Quique which is the nickname Enrique has the 2 sounds)

*cu

1. Like dd of Teddy or tt of Betty. pero, ahora, caro

2. Like rr at the beginning of a word or after letters l, n, or s. rojo, ratón, alrededor

ere

Very strong perro, ahorra, carro

erre

ese son, somos, solo

té, toma, Tijuanate

uva, huevo, unicornio u

ve Pronounced like the b favor, vaso, vino

doble v

equis

This letter is only found in foreign words. Washington

Like the x in exam excelente, examen, próximo, explicar, extraño

i griega

zeta

1. Like the letter i when by itself and at the end of a word. hoy,muy, y

2. Like the y in yes otherwise

ya, yeso, yodo

Like the s (in Spain like a th) zapatos, zorro

Notes

• ch and ll were separate letters of the alphabet until April of 1994 when La Real Academia Espanola (sort of like a grammar police) voted to eliminate them as separate letters.

• Older dictionaries will have them in their own section – ch after c and ll after l.

Practica

Spell the following words using the Spanish alphabet.

1. Your first name2. Your last name

Example:

Pazmiño

Pe – a – zeta – eme- i – eñe - o