The Spanish alphabet – Lesson

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Introduction

The Spanish alphabet is very easy for English speakers, because it’s the same alphabet.

Actually, compared to other languages, the pronunciation rules are very simple and quite regular. It’s not hard to pronounce correctly when reading a Spanish text, because it’s read phonetically almost letter by letter, so you just have to read what it’s written without complex phonetic rules. Of course, to accomplish this, you will have to learn how every letter sounds in Spanish.

Similarities

1. They are alphabetic languages.
2. Both English and Spanish use latin characters.
3. We have the same vowels.
4. We have the same consonants, although Spanish has one more.

Differences

1. The English alphabet has 26 letters and the Spanish alphabet has 27 letters. The letter ñ comes after the letter n.
2. The pronunciation of the vowels in Spanish is different from English, and they are always pronounced the same way.
3. Accent marks can be added to the vowels, which most times change the meaning of the word and the pronunciation.
4. Some consonants are pronounced differently depending on the letter that goes after them. For example: “c” can be pronounced like “z” or “k”.
5. English is not read phonetically, while Spanish is read phonetically.
6. English has more sounds and phonetic rules.

The alphabet and its pronunciation

In this section we will see the pronunciation of the 27 letters of the alphabet, including examples that will make it easier. We will also compare every letter with a similar sound in English, which will give you much more information and a faster and better way to learn Spanish pronunciation.

Digraphs

A digraph is a combination of consonants that represents a single sound. They aren’t considered letters of the Spanish alphabet.

Spanish has 5 digraphs. 

Vowels 

Vowels are pronounced quite differently in Spanish and English. Spanish rules are easier.

Vowels in Spanish are always pronounced the same and they aren’t silenced or shortened.

In Spanish there are five vowels and they are pronounced the same as they are written.

Vowel a (ah): its sound is similar to a in map or rap. 

Vowel e (eh): its sound is similar to e in pet or red. 

Vowel i (ih): its sound is similar to i in pit or similar. 

Vowel o (oh): its sound is similar to o in pot or son.

Vowel u (uh): its sound is similar to u in put or book. 

Accent marks

In Spanish we can apply accent marks to the vowels. There is only one accent mark: “´”.

Accents most times change the meaning of the word and the pronunciation. Accents indicate which syllable has the stress when pronouncing the word.

We will study when to use an accent mark later on our more advanced courses.

Diphthongs

A diphthong is the union of two different vowels and they are pronounced in the same syllable. There is nothing special when pronouncing them, just say both letters one after the other in the same syllable.

Examples:

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