Contents of Lesson 2

Introduction

Word Stress and Written Accents

How to Find a Word's Stressed Syllable

Pronunciation of Vowels

Pronunciation of Consonants

Consonants with unchanging pronunciation

The letter x

Consonants whose pronunciation changes depending on the following vowel.

Table 1: How to Pronounce the Letters

Table 2: How to Write the Sounds

Exercise: Finding Dictionary Entries

Exercise: Pronunciation Practice Using Geographical Names

Answers to Exercise on Finding Dictionary Entries

Lesson 2: Spanish Pronunciation and Spelling

Introduction

Even if one's main interest is reading, some treatment of pronunciation is necessary. Many words differ
only in minor aspects of their pronunciation, such as hablo (I speak) and habló (he/she/it/you spoke). A
knowledge of pronunciation makes some verb problems go away: it explains, for example, why the verb
hacer (to do or make) has a z in its third person singular preterit form, hizo (he/she/it/you did or made).

Also, most students learning to read Spanish want to know how to pronounce it correctly. Thus, we will
include an overview of the features of Spanish pronunciation most problematic for English speakers and
most relevant to learning to read. Spanish pronunciation is much closer to the written form of the
language than is that of English or French, which makes the learner's task easier. Letters not discussed
below have the same or nearly the same pronunciation as English.
You can click on any Spanish word in this lesson to hear its pronunciation. With the letters z and c before
e or i, as discussed below, the pronunciation used is that which distinguishes them from the s: the
pronunciation of Spain, sometimes called "Castilian Pronunciation."

Each sound file (each word) is approximately 50K in size. That is to say, each word is longer than the
entire text of this lesson. There are ways to shrink the files, but then you'd have to have different
software to hear them. This is why there may be delays, depending on the speed of your connection and
the congestion of the network.

Word Stress and Written Accents

Throughout, the word "accent" refers to a written accent mark. The "accented syllable" as used in
English, that is the syllable that receives the emphasis or stress, is called "the stressed syllable." All
accented syllables are stressed, but not all stressed syllables are accented.

Spanish has only one type of accent mark: the acute accent. It is a diagonal line (´), written on top of the
stressed vowel. (The accent is only used on vowels.) With an i, the accent takes the place of the dot (í).

The written accent has no effect on alphabetical order.

The accent mark is not considered part of the word's spelling. It may be present in the singular of a
word, but not in the plural (nación - naciones), or in some verb forms but not in others (hablo-habló,
estar - esté).

Sometimes the accent serves to distinguish homonyms (este - esté, si - sí). This will be discussed in a
future lesson.

The tilde (~), written only over the n, and the two dots over the u, discussed below, are not accent
marks.

How to Find a Word's Stressed Syllable

Each Spanish word has one and only one stressed syllable.

If a word has a written accent mark, it is found over the stressed syllable.

nación

pájaro

cómo

día

Since Spanish words have only one stressed syllable, they have only one accent mark, if any.
Word stress, for words without a written accent mark, is always determined working from the end of
the word forward. It is “the last syllable,” “the next to last syllable,” “two syllables before the last,” not
“the first syllable,” etc. In addition, it depends on the concluding letter of the word.

Words without a written accent mark, ending in a vowel, n, or s, are stressed on the next to last syllable:

España

Estados Unidos

hablo

naciones

All other words - that is to say, words without a written accent mark, not ending in a vowel, n, or s -are
stressed on the last syllable:

pared

reloj

hablar

Syllable Definition. W hen two vowels are juxtaposed (next to each other), one needs to know whether
they form one or two syllables.

The rule is: an i or u without a written accent mark will combine with an adjacent vowel to form a single
syllable. The other vowel (the one adjacent to the ior u) receives the spoken stress.

historia (The i and the a combine, so the to is the next-to-last syllable, and therefore stressed.

puede (The u and e combine, forming one syllable, so the ue is the next-to-last syllable and therefore
stressed. The e is the major vowel in the syllable, receiving the spoken stress.)

peruano (The u and a combine; the word has three syllables; the a receives the spoken stress.)

Otherwise, adjacent vowels are in separate syllables.

biología

policía

correo

caer

Pronunciation of VOWELS

Vowels in Spanish follow the standard continental (European) pronunciation, shared by French, Italian,
and other languages

a like the a of father: mañana.

i like the i of machine: país.

o like the o of no: como.

u is like the English u in lunar: luna. It does not have the y sound that the u has at the beginning of a
word in English (use, university).

The vowels are always pronounced the same way. Each a in mañana is the same, not varying like the o's
in English tomorrow. Vowels are never silent (except the u of gu and qu).

The differences in vowels and word stress means that many cognates—words that are similar to English
words—are pronounced quite differently. Try to pronounce each of the following, then click on them to
check your answers:

ideal

liberal

hipócrita

interesante

teléfono

policía

universidad

América

Europa

real

responsable

sentimental

terrible

valiente

elegante

emocional

tímido

cruel

intensivo

Pronunciation of CONSONANTS
Consonants with unchanging pronunciation.

The following consonants are identical or close to their English pronunciation: d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t.

The b and v are pronounced identically in Spanish. The sound is a weak b, in which the lips do not quite
close: burro, vaca.

Ll. There are regional variations, but the most common pronunciation is as a y.

llama

Ñ of mañana. (See Lesso n 1.)

H is silent (except in ch, pronounced as in English).

hora

hombre

búho

muchacho

Y is a vowel only in the one-letter word y (and). Otherwise it is a consonant pronounced the same as in
English: ya, yo, hay.

R is quite different from English. The tongue touches the roof of the mouth in back of the front teeth:
pero. It is closer to a t or d than to the English r.

At the beginning of a word, the r is trilled: rosa, rey, red.

The rr, found only in the middle of words, represents the same trilled sound as the initial r: perro,
ahorrar, ferrocarril. Note the difference between pero and perro.

Qu is always pronounced like k (never kw, as it is in Italian and English).

que

quiero

aquella

The kw sound is written with a gu or cu: cuando (not quando); agua (not aqua).

S. In English s has two sounds: an unvoiced sound (loose, safe), and a voiced sound, the same as z (lose,
rose, words). In Spanish the s always has the former (unvoiced) sound (rosa, cosas). The sound of English
z does not exist in Spanish.

In contrast, Italian has a voiced s: : the same word, casa, is pronounced with a z sound in Italian, but an s
sound in Spanish.

J. The Spanish j has a sound like the ch in the Scottish loch or in the German Achtung. It is a gutteral
sound like a gargle:
julio

jugo

José (not pronounced Jozé)

Quijote

The sound of j in the English word judge or the Italian oggi does not exist in Spanish.

Z. The differences in pronounciation of the letter z (and with it the c before e or i; see below) are
commonly referred to as the difference between "Latin-American Spanish" and "Castilian Spanish."
However, Spanish spelling reflects the pronunciation of Spain (Castile). Link to additional comments
about "Castilian Spanish" and "Latin-American Spanish."

In Spain, z is pronounced like a th. Zapato, zócalo, zona, zorro, cazar as pronounced in Spain.

In Spanish America, z is pronounced identically with the s. However, the difference in spelling is
important. Zapato, zócalo, zona, zorro, cazar as pronounced in Spanish America.

The z is never pronounced like the English z (zone).

The letter x.

X is pronounced like j, or sometimes sh, in Mexican names:

México (written Méjico in Spain). The adjective is always written with a j: mejicano

Oaxaca

Texas (often written Tejas; adjective tejano)

Xalapa

Xochimilco (pronounced like s).

Otherwise, the X is identical or very close to English:

éxito

taxi

explicar

Consonants whose pronunciation changes depending on the vowel which follows.

C.

Before a, o, u, or at the end of a word, c is pronounced like a k:

carro

coche

cuna
coñac

Before e or i, the c is pronounced like z (in Spain as th, in Spanish America as s):

cero (Spain: thero; Spanish America sero)

cielo (Spain: thielo; Spanish America sielo)

In English, the c also changes its pronunciation depending on whether it is followed by (1) a, o, u or (2) e,
i: cat, coal, cute, celebrate, nice.

G.

Before a, o, u, the g is pronounced with the “hard”g sound of English golly:

gato

agonía

laguna

Before e, i, the g has the same pronounciation as the Spanish j.

gelatina

geneología

gitano

In English, the g also changes its pronunciation depending on whether it is followed by (1) a, o, u or (2) e,
i: gal, goal, gum, germ, gigolo.

Gu. While the gu is not a single letter, the combination functions like the c or the g.

Before e or i, the gu serves to represent the hard g sound:

guerra

guisar

guitarra

Guernica (a town; also a famous painting by Picasso)

Before a or o, the gu is pronounced gw:

guante

guapo

ambiguo

antiguo
To write the gw sound before e or i, two dots are placed on top of the u: gü. The two dots are only used
on the u and only before an e or i. Like the accent mark, the two dots have no effect on alphabetical
order.

vergüenza

lingüística

Recapitulation: consonants whose pronunciation changes depending on the following vowel.

Table 1: How to Pronounce the Letters

Table 2: How to Write the Sounds

Table 1: How to Pronounce the Letters (from the letters to the sounds)

Letter

Sound before a, o, u, or at the end of a word

Sound before e, i

like k: coche (this is also the sound that English c has before a, o, u)

like the z, however that is pronounced: cero, licencia

the same as English, a “hard” g sound: gato, agonía, laguna

Gu

gw: guapo, guante

“hard” g sound: guerrilla

Gü

(does not occur)

gw: lingüística

Table 2: How to Write the Sounds (from the sounds to the letters)

Sound How written, before a, o, u, or at the end of a word How written, before e, i

hard g sound

g: rogar; siga

gu: rogué, ruegue; seguir

gw sound

gu: averiguar

gü: averigüé
th (pronounced as s in Spanish America)

z: venza, haz

c: vencer

jota sound

j: cojo, reloj

g: coger; or j: Jiménez

k sound

c: buscar, coñac

qu: busqué

Exercise: Using pronunciation to find dictionary entries

Depending on the initial vowel of the ending, the sound preceding if varies in its writing. Remember: the
important point is how the sound is written under the changed vowel context.

The following includes endings which change their initial vowel. Following the indication of the different
ending, see if you can find the spelling of the new form, and find it in your dictionary. Then click on each
for the correct answer.

veces: remove ending -es completely.

averigüé: ending is -ar instead of -é.

luces: remove ending -es completely.

mosquito: ending is -a instead of -ito.

vaquero (English buckeroo): ending is -a instead of -ero.

venza: ending is -er instead of -a.

surja: ending is -ir instead of -a.

cargue: ending is -ar instead of -e.

acerqué: ending is -ar instead of é

Exercise: Pronunciation Practice Using Geographical Names

The following are the names of coujntries as spelled in Spanish, and in parentheses the names of the
inhabitants of these countries. As we discussed in Lesson 1, adjectives (such as mejicano) derived from
proper nouns (México) are not capitalized in Spanish.

España (español)

México (mejicano)

Guatemala (guatemalteco)

El Salvador (salvadoreño)

Belice (beliceño)

Honduras (hondureño)

Nicaragua (nicaragüense)

Costa Rica (costarricense, )

Panamá (panameño)

Colombia (colombiano)

Venezuela (venezolano)

Ecuador (ecuatoriano)

Perú (peruano)

Bolivia (boliviano)

Chile (chileno)
Paraguay (paraguayo)

Uruguay (uruguayo)

Argentina (argentino)

Cuba (cubano)

República Dominicana (dominicano)

Puerto Rico (puertorriqueño)

Guinea Ecuatorial (?)

Estados Unidos (estadounidense, norteamericano)

Madrid (madrileño)

Sevilla (sevillano)

Granada (granadino)

Buenos Aires (bonaerense)

Yucatán (yucateco)

Galicia (gallego)

Jalisco (jaliciense)

Xalapa (jalapeño)

Answers to exercise on finding dictionary entries:

vez

averiguar (Note that the gü, which writes the gw sound before e, has changed to gu, since the following
vowel is an a.)

luz

chico

mosca
vaca

vencer

surgir

cargar

acercar