• Courses

    Courses

    Spanish
    Portuguese
    Japanese
    Arabic
    French
    Mandarin Chinese
    Italian
    Hindi

    VIP Courses

    English as a Second Language
    Dental English
    Medical English

    19601088_10212241117799051_1319076055630407744_n
  • Registration
  • Dentistry English Test
  • Payments
  • About Us
  • Contact us
    Contact Us
    (678) 324-8760
    admin@thelanguageisland.com
    Login
    The Language IslandThe Language Island
    • Courses

      Courses

      Spanish
      Portuguese
      Japanese
      Arabic
      French
      Mandarin Chinese
      Italian
      Hindi

      VIP Courses

      English as a Second Language
      Dental English
      Medical English

      19601088_10212241117799051_1319076055630407744_n
    • Registration
    • Dentistry English Test
    • Payments
    • About Us
    • Contact us

      Blog

      • Home
      • Blog
      • Blog
      • A Guide to Spanish Pronunciation

      A Guide to Spanish Pronunciation

      • Date April 4, 2015

      button-learnspanish3

      Today we’re going to offer a guide to the pronunciation of Spanish vowels, diphthongs (two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable), and consonants. Each sound will includes an approximate English equivalent and an example in Spanish. Make sure you check the end of the guide for some important notes on regional differences and others anomalies of Spanish pronunciation.

       

      Vowels

      Spanish Sound Approximate English Sound Spanish Example
      a f­ather España
      e ace (but cut off sharply) señor
      i fee día
      o note hotel
      u rule mucho
      y feet y*

       

      Diphthongs

      Spanish Sound Approximate English Sound Spanish Example
      ai/ay aisle Bailar, hay
      au now auto
      ei may peine
      ia yarn gracias
      ie yet siempre
      io yodel adios
      iu you Ciudad, oigo
      oi/oy oy Oigo, estoy
      ua wand cuando
      ue wet bueno
      ui/uy sweet Cuidado, muy

       

      Consonants**

      Spanish Sound Approximate English Sound Spanish Example
      b/d/l/m/n/p/s/t functionally equivalent N/A
      c* (before e/i) s (certain) cena
      c (before a/o/u) k (catch) como
      cc cks (accent) lección
      ch ch (church) mucho
      g (before a/o/u) hard g (go) ganar
      g (before a/i) hard h (he) gente
      h silent hasta
      j hard h (he) jefe
      ll Latin America: y (yet) , Spain: lli (million) polo
      ñ ny (canyon) caña
      qu k (kite) que
      r single trill in middle of word (throw) pero
      r double trill at middle of word rosa
      rr double trill carro
      v v (vote) [softer, almost like b] viernes
      x cks (rocks) taxi
      z* s zona

      Notes:

       

      *Y is only considered a vowel when it stands alone.

       

      **The letters k and w appear in Spanish in foreign words. The k is spelled with the Spanish equivalent qu in some countries. The Spanish w sounds like an English v.

       

      *** Z (as well as c before e or i) is pronounced like the English th in some parts of Spain. Examples: zona, cera, and cinco.

       

       

       

      Tag:Pronunciation, Spanish, Spanish Pronunciation

      • Share:
      author avatar
      thelanguageisland

      Previous post

      Dual Gender French Nouns
      April 4, 2015

      Next post

      Present Tense Regular Spanish Verbs
      April 14, 2015

      You may also like

      Even More English Words with Foreign Language Origins
      30 September, 2017

      This week, we’re going explore another six everyday words rooted in languages other than English. Modern English contains many such loanwords that have been “borrowed” from other languages. While English loanwords usually …

      italia
      Italian Vocabulary Quiz Round 2
      30 September, 2017
      italia
      Italian Words with Multiple Meanings
      30 September, 2017

      Search

      Our Courses

      • Spanish
      • Portuguese
      • Japanese
      • Arabic
      • Russian
      • Italian
      • Hindi
      • Mandarin Chinese

      Like Us On Facebook

      Facebook Pagelike Widget

      Education WordPress Theme by ThimPress. Powered by WordPress.

      Become A Teacher?

      Join our Team!

      Get Started Now
      [miniorange_social_login shape="longbuttonwithtext" theme="default" space="4" width="240" height="40"]

      Login with your site account

      Lost your password?