This document provides an overview of basic Spanish pronunciation rules including: - The double l and Spanish v sounds are pronounced like a y. - The trilled r sound is used for double and interior r's, while single r's are understated. - The ñ is similar to the ny sound in canyon. - G has different pronunciations depending on following letters, and qu is pronounced like k. - Stress usually falls on the second to last syllable and diacritical marks indicate stress. - H is silent when not paired with c, z sounds like s, and vowels each have one sound.

1. Basic Spanish Pronunciation

2. Double LL
• Caballo>>[cabayo]

3. Spanish “v”
• Nos vemos>>[nos bemos]
– Pronounced just like the “b”

4. Trilled “r”, singular “r”
• Double r>>Monterrey
• Leading r>>reino
• Final r>>jugar
• Singular r is understated>>caro

5. The ñ
• Similar to the ny sound in canyon.
– mañana

6. G
• When g is followed by e/i >> English “h” sound
– Gente
– Dirigir
• Gui/gue = hardens the “g” sound
– Guía
– Guerra
• Gu/ga/go = hard “g” sound
– Gusto, ganar, gol

7. C
• When c is followed by e/i >> English “s” sound
– celos
– ciclo
• cu/ca/co = hard “c” sound (k sound)
– curtir, casa, colar
• Ch forms an affricate sound like in English
– muchacho

8. Qu
• Qu = “k” sound
– Busque

9. Stress and Diacritical Marks
• Usually in Spanish we accent, or place more
stress on the second to last syllable—all words
that end in “n”, “s”, or any vowel
– Compadre, trabajan, hablamos
• We accent the last syllable if the word ends in a
consonante
– Universidad
• If we see a written accent mark, we’ll stress the
indicated syllable
– Habló versus hablo; busqué vs. busque

10. Stand alone “h”
• H is silent in Spanish when not paired with a
“c”
– Hola
– hotel

11. Z
• Z sounds like “s”
– Cazar
– Empezar
• In Spain “z” and “c” are given a “th” sound to
distinguish them from “s”
– Cazar vs. casar

12. Vowels have one sound each
• A
• E
• I
• O
• U
Diphthongs combine 2 vowels to form new sounds
--deuda, aceite, acostaos, aeropuerto

13. Understated Consonants

14. j
• The “j” is like the “ge” and “gi” and it forms a
sound like English “h”
– Justo
– Javier
– Jornada

15. D
• The “d” in Spanish is very understated and can
often sound like a “th” in English
– todo

16. T
• T is also very understated and can sound like a
“d” in English
– Tren
– Tal vez

17. B and V
• B and V are also very understated and sound
identical
– Acabar
– cavar

18. Somewhat Rare
• ü rfetains the Spanish “u” sound.
– Lingüística and not linguística