Sonidos y pronunciación en español: In this extensive episode, you’ll learn and practice how to pronounce the five Spanish vocalic sounds, /k/ («coffee») vs. /θ/ («Thursday») and /x/ («jamón») vs. /g/ («gato»).
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Please, support my work
Are you enjoying this podcast and the content on the website? I’m so happy that you like it! I hope to keep making content for you forever and that you keep me company on this adventure. It takes an incredible amount of time and effort! By making a contribution, you’ll make it possible.
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¡Muchas gracias, eres increíble! 🙂
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¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Bienvenido otro viernes más a un nuevo episodio de mi pódcast. Muchísimas gracias por estar ahí, muchísimas gracias por escucharme. En los próximos dos episodios, este y el de la semana que viene, voy a hablar en inglés en la mayor parte, ya que vamos a hablar de pronunciación. Es importante que lo entiendas bien si estás empezando a estudiar español o todavía eres un principiante. Aunque si estás en un nivel intermedio o incluso avanzado, te animo a que te quedes. Muchos estudiantes intermedios, por ejemplo, todavía pronuncian incorrectamente y tienen dificultades con algunos sonidos. Así que, siempre es bueno tener material que escuchar para poder practicar en casa.
Welcome another Friday to a new episode of my podcast, thanks so much for being there and thanks for listening. In the next two episodes, this one and the one next week, I’m going to speak mostly in English since we’re going to talk about pronunciation. It’s important that you’re able to understand well if you’re starting to study Spanish or if you’re still a beginner. Although if you’re an intermediate or even an advanced learner, I definitely encourage you to stay. Most intermediate students, for instance, still pronounce incorrectly and still struggle with some sounds. So, it’s always good to have some material to listen to so you can practice at home.
He decidido dividir este tema en dos episodios, ya que se estaba alargando demasiado y hubiera sido muy denso y tedioso. No quería desmotivarte porque es un tema muy importante. He pensado que era mejor separar el contenido en dos semanas para que pudieras tener un descanso por el medio y que volvieras la semana que viene a por más, con fuerzas renovadas. También, al ser bilingüe, el episodio va a ser inevitablemente más largo.
I’ve decided to split this topic into two episodes as it was getting tediously long and too dense and I didn’t want to demotivate you because it’s a very important topic. I’ve thought it better to separate the content in two weeks so you could have a break in between and you could come back next week for more, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I’ve always wanted to say that expression, which is my favourite in English, and I’m happy that I could. Also, being bilingual, the episode is inevitably going to be longer.
Así que, quédate conmigo, seas principiante, empieces desde cero, o seas ya un intermedio.
So, stay with me, no matter if you’re a beginner, are starting from scratch or if you’re an intermediate.
¡Vamos allá!
Let’s get to it!
La importancia de aprender y practicar la pronunciación en español.
The importance of learning and practicing pronunciation in Spanish.
En la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera, la pronunciación ha sido siempre la gran olvidada, tanto por parte de los profesores como por parte de los estudiantes. Los profesores siempre hemos considerado que, en español, la pronunciación y la fonética son menos importantes que en otras lenguas, como por ejemplo el inglés, ya que a primera vista el español parece una lengua más sencilla en ese aspecto.
In the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language, pronunciation has always been left out, both from the teacher’s and the student’s side. As teachers, we’ve always considered that, in Spanish, pronunciation and phonetics are less important than in other languages, as for example in English, since at first glance, it seems like a much simpler language in that aspect.
Sin embargo, la realidad es que la mayoría de estudiantes alcanza un nivel intermedio todavía sin pronunciar correctamente. Especialmente las vocales y los sonidos con aspiración en inglés, como /p/, /t/ y /k/, que en español no la tienen. También muchos estudiantes intermedios tienen todavía problemas de comprensión porque nunca han dedicado el tiempo suficiente a practicar e imitar la pronunciación. Y en las aulas de español no suele dedicarse ese tiempo a esa parte fundamental del aprendizaje de una lengua. Es algo muy importante, no solamente para que te entienda un hablante nativo sino también para que tú puedas entenderlo a él.
However, the reality is that most students reach an intermediate level without getting to pronounce correctly. Especially the vowels and the sounds with aspiration in English, such as /p/, /t/, /k/, that in Spanish don’t have it. Also, many intermediate students still have comprehension problems because they haven’t dedicated enough time to practice and imitate the pronunciation. And in the Spanish classrooms that time is not frequently dedicated either, to that fundamental part of the learning of a language. It’s something important, not only for a native speaker to understand you but also for you to understand him.
Además de la pronunciación de los sonidos, también es importante practicar la entonación y aprender cómo los hablantes nativos enlazamos las sílabas y los distintos sonidos cuando hablamos. Esto marcará una diferencia enorme en el progreso de tu comprensión y producción en español. Estate atento a mi pódcast porque voy a hacer un episodio sobre este tema.
Aside from the pronunciation of the sounds, it’s also important to practice the intonation and to learn how native speakers link the syllables and the different sounds when we speak. This will make a huge difference in your comprehension and production in Spanish. Keep an eye on my podcast because I’m going to make an episode about this topic.
Por eso, te aconsejo que dediques el máximo tiempo posible a este tema desde el principio de tu aprendizaje del español. Si estás empezando, no hay mejor momento que este.
¡Mucha suerte!
For that reason, my advice is that you dedicate as much time as possible to this topic from the beginning of your Spanish learning. If you’re just getting started, there isn’t any better time than this one.
Good luck!
El abecedario en español.
The Spanish alphabet.
Vamos a empezar con lo más básico y vamos a escuchar el abecedario en español. Después de cada letra, voy a darte ejemplos de palabras con esa letra.
We’re going to start with the most basic and we’re going to listen to the alphabet in Spanish. El abecedario (also, more similar to English, el alfabeto). After every letter, I’m going to give you examples of words with that letter.
¿Estás preparado?
Are you ready?
🇩🇪 A (a) – Agua, Alemania, Ana
🚲 B (be) – Beber, Barcelona, bonito, bicicleta
☕ C (ce) – Canadá, café, comida, cine, cena
🇩🇰 D (de) – Dinamarca, día, decir
🐘 E (e) – Ecuador, elefante, ejemplo, estar
🥝🍌🍏F (efe) – Felipe, fruta, fantástico, Filipinas
🐈 🧍♀️🧍♂️🧍♂️🧍♀️🧍♀️🧍♂️ G (ge) – Gato, gente, gimnasio, gobierno, Guatemala
🍨 H (hache) – Hola, hotel, Honduras, hermana, helado
🇮🇹 I (i) – Importante, idioma, Italia, inglés
🔴 J (jota) – Jamón, jefe, Javier, rojo, soja
🐨 K (ca) – kiwi, koala, Kirguistán, kilómetro.
🌑 L (ele) – Lanzarote, letra, leche, luna
👨⚕️ M (eme) – Madrid, mañana, médico, música
🌃 N (ene) – Nunca, noche, Nicaragua, Natalia
👧 Ñ (eñe) – señor, niña, soñar, añejo
🎃 O (o) – Oslo, octubre, oficial, Olivia
🫑 P (p) – Perú, palabra, problema, pimiento
🇵🇪 Q (cu) – Quito, quizás, querer, quedar
💨 R (erre) – Roma, rápido, cariño, interés
🧂 S (ese) – Sal, siempre, Suiza
🐢 T (te) – Televisión, taxi, tortuga, Tailandia
🍇U (u) – Uruguay, uva, usar, utopía
🏖️ V (uve) – Valencia, ventana, vacaciones, ver, vino
🥃 W (uve doble) – Whisky, waterpolo, web, wolframio
🥊 X (equis) – boxeo, examen, oxígeno, saxofón, experiencia
🧘 Y (i griega) – Yoga, yogur, Yugoslavia, yema
🦊 Z (zeta) – Zorro, zanahoria, Zulema, zumo, zona
Algunos consejos iniciales.
Some initial tips.
Before getting started, I’m going to give you some initial tips:
- In Spanish, we pronounce every single letter of a word. If we have two vowels together, for instance, they’re always pronounced. For example, in English we say “caffeine” → /ˈkæfiːn/ whereas in Spanish we say “cafeína” → /kafe’ina/ and not /ke’fina/, as an English native speaker would intuitively pronounce it. 🗣️C A 🗣️FE🗣️Í 🗣️NA
- The letter “h” is ALWAYS silent, without exception. No matter if the “h” is at the beginning (hola) or in the middle of a word (almohada). We don’t have an “h” at the end of words, unless it’s an interjection such as “¡ah!” or “¡oh!”, for instance. 🇭 = 🤫
- The Spanish “x” sounds like “ks” and not “gz”. For example, in English is “exam” /ɪgˈzæm/, whereas in Spanish we say “examen” /ek’samen/.
- In Spanish there isn’t ANY DIFFERENCE between how we pronounce the letter “b” and the letter “v”. They are both pronounced like a “b”, /b/. So, Barcelona, Valencia, Brasil, Venezuela, vino, beso, vida, bicicleta… They all start with the exact same sound, /b/. 🇧 = 🇻
- As you’ve probably noticed from the very name of the country “España” or the name of the language “español”, Spanish has a special letter. It’s called “eñe”, as you just saw with the alphabet. The sound that we produce with it’s very similar to the English /ŋ/ as in “parking” /ˈpɑrkɪŋ/. The difference is that your tongue should be touching your palate to do the “ñ” in “España” /es ‘pa ɲa/. /ɲ 🇪🇸
- If you’re a British English speaker who doesn’t pronounce the final “r”, then you need to be mindful and get used to doing it in Spanish. All the verbs in Spanish, for example, in their infinitive form, end in one of these three endings: -ar, -er, -ir. Let’s see some examples: trabajar, hablar, leer, comer, escribir, vivir… This is very important because “beber” means “to drink” but “bebé” means “baby” so if you don’t pronounce the “r” at the end, aside from not speaking Spanish correctly, it can lead you to misunderstandings. I know it’s difficult, I still struggle with English sounds, but we both need to make an effort! 🗣️🇷
- You learnt your native language unconsciously, without thinking about it or knowing how you were articulating the sounds. If you want to learn to pronounce correctly in another language, you have to start being aware of how those sounds are produced in your mouth. If you don’t pay attention to this and practice, then you’ll never be able to have a good pronunciation nor understand native speakers with ease.
Las vocales y los sonidos vocálicos en español.
The vowels and the vocalic sounds in Spanish.
In Spanish, there are only five vocalic sounds (in English there are twelve, for instance) and they all match the five vowels a, e, i, o, u (a, e, i, o, u).
These five sounds are going to be completely new to you, if you’re an English speaker. You’re going to have to learn to produce the sounds of the five vowels in Spanish as they are not the same as the sounds that those letter(s)* form in English.
Maybe the “i” (ee in Spanish) is the only vowel with the same sound in English, for example, in words like “feel” or “see”, but in Spanish is ALWAYS short, like in American English.
If you have a different mother tongue, you might have some of these sounds in your language.
*for some reason the final ‘s’ is not audible! Apologies.
Licencia: BY-NC-SA
La vocal “a” en español.
Licencia: BY-NC-SA
La “a” en español se pronuncia /a/ y no /ɑ/ como en inglés en, por ejemplo “father” /ˈfɑːðə/. En español se dice “padre” /’pa ðre/. The mouth is open and the tongue is at the centre.
Practica con estas palabras:
Mañana, Canadá, papá, mamá, casa, Panamá, Ana, rata.
La vocal “e” en español.
Licencia: BY-NC-SA
La “e” en español se pronuncia /e/, como en “Pepe” /’pe pe / y no /ɛ/ como en inglés en, por ejemplo, “pen” /pɛn/. The lips are spread as in a smile. The tongue is at the front of the mouth.
Practica con estas palabras:
Celeste, jefe, tele, verde, detergente, célebre, excelente.
La vocal “i” en español.
Licencia: BY-NC-SA
La “i” en español se pronuncia /i/, como en “mini” /’mi ni/, como en “fee”, en inglés americano /fi/. The lips are also placed for a smile but with the mouth very closed.
Practica con estas palabras:
Pili, clic, brindis, bici, difícil, Iris.
La vocal “o” en español.
Licencia: BY-NC-SA
La “o” en español se pronuncia /o/, como en “poco” /’po ko/ y no /ɒ/ como en inglés en “pot” /pɒt/. The mouth is rounded and the tongue is placed at the back of the mouth.
Practica con estas palabras:
Oso, loco, poco, loro, mozo, zoo, doloroso, protocolo.
La vocal “u” en español.
Licencia: BY-NC-SA
La “u” en español se pronuncia /u/, como en “tú” /’tu/, como en “who” /hu/ en inglés americano. With a small mouth and the tongue at the back and up.
Practica con estas palabras:
Urdu, zulú, gurú, tuntún, tutú, sur, ñu
Los sonidos /k/ (“café”) y /θ/ (“zapato”) en español.
The sounds /k/ (“coffee”) and /θ/ (“Thursday”).
The first thing you need to know is that the sound /k/ in Spanish, as I’ve told you in the initial tips, doesn’t have an aspiration.
Es decir, en español no pronunciamos la /k/ en “café” como en inglés, “coffee”.
¿Cómo formamos el sonido /k/?
How do we form the sound /k/?
Con la C + vocal a, e u o, o con cualquier otra letra:
- C+a = calendario, Cartagena, cachorro, campo
- C+o = compra, cosa, contigo, colegio
- C+u = curso, cultura, cumpleaños, curioso, cursiva
- C + consonante = cruz, creer, cráter, macro, conflicto, arácnido
- C al final de la sílaba = más común en palabras de origen extranjero: cómic, zinc, Titanic, picnic… Y en el nombre Isaac, por ejemplo.
Con el dígrafo QU:
A digraph is a pair of letters that join to form a sound. In this case, the letter “q” in Spanish is only ever used together with a “u” to form the sounds “que” /ke/ as in “queso” and /ki/ as in “quinto”.
- Qu + e = querer, queratina, queja, parque, porque, pequeño
- Qu + i = quince, quiero, quirófano, química, maquillaje, Turquía
¿Cómo formamos el sonido /θ/?
How do we form the sound /θ/?
Con la Z:
SIEMPRE (ALWAYS):
- Z+a = zapato, taza, cabeza, azar, mazapán, cerveza, mostaza.
- Z+e = muy poco común en español, pero hay algunas palabras y nombres propios = zen, zeta, zelote, Azerbaiyán, Nueva Zelanda, Ezequiel, zepelín.
- Z+i = tampoco es muy común en español pero hay ejemplos: nazi, Suazilandia, zigzag, azimut.
- Z+ o = zorro, garbanzo, abrazo, zona, corazón, almuerzo, cazo, pozo, zoo
- Z + u = zumo, zurdo, Zulema, azul, azúcar.
Con la C + vocal e o i:
- C+e = cenar, centro, cebolla, tercero, cerca, cerebro, pecera
- C+i = cine, circo, cielo, científico, gracias, ciudad, principal
Los sonidos /x/ (“jamón”) y /g/ (“gato”).
The sounds /x/ (non-existent in English) and /g/ (“goat”).
El sonido /x/ como en “jamón».
The sound /x/ as in “jamón”.
I’m going to explain to you now in English how to articulate the sound /x/ and help you practice.
It’s not as hard or strange as you might think. What’s more, this sound was once part of the consonant repertoire of Old English. It’s still retained in Scottish English, for instance, in words like “loch” or “dreich”. So, if you’re from Scotland, you won’t have a problem with this.
If you speak English, you have a very close sound, which is the one you produce to pronounce the /h/ in “hello”. This is the reason why English speakers pronounce “jamón” as “hamón” because, intuitively and naturally, it’s the closest you have within the sounds of your native language.
Your /h/ sound is called a glottal fricative, which means that the sound is produced in the glottis, which is the middle part of the larynx. There’s a slight friction in the vocal cords and the air is pushed through the mouth. Do that sound now, as if you were to say “hello”.
Right, the Spanish /x/ is in a similar category as your “h” sound. In this case, the sound is a velar fricative. This means that the friction that produces the sound instead of being created in the glottis it’s produced in the velum which is the soft palate, at the back.
Let’s give it a try. You’re going to produce a /h/ like in “hello” and then you’re going to push your soft palate towards your throat and move a bit the back of the tongue, as if you wanted to join them. That way, you’ll block the air, causing the friction in the velum. Did you get it? Don’t worry, it’s a matter of practice and I’m very sure you’ll get there.
¿Cómo formamos el sonido /x/?
How do we form the sound /x/ as in “jamón” or “gente”?
Con la J:
SIEMPRE (ALWAYS):
- J + a = jamón, jarabe, abeja, caja, jabalí, jazmín, Javier
- J + e = jefe, Jerez, ajedrez, ejercicio, viaje, mujer, ejemplo
- J + i = jirafa, jinete, Jiménez, perejil, vajilla
- J + o = joven, joya, Jose, trabajo, conejo, rojo, mejor, lejos
- J + u = juicio, juntos, juguete, junio, julio, Julián, judías
Con la G + vocal e o i:
- G+e = gente, general, gelatina, genio, generación, urgencia, laringe, proteger, esfinge
- G+i = gimnasio, gigante, página, gitano, ágil, colegio, digital
El sonido /g/ como en “gato”.
The sound /g/ as in “gato”.
Aside for producing the sound “ge” /xe/ or “gi/ /xi/, the letter “g” in Spanish is also used to represent the sound /g/ with the rest of the vowel (a, o and u), as in English with words such as “goat”, “gate”, “get”, “guide”, etc. It NEVER sounds /ʤ/ as in “general” /ˈʤɛnərəl/ or “gist” /ʤɪst/. Neither sounds /ʒ/ as in “genre” /ˈʒɑnrə/.
¿Cómo formamos el sonido /g/ como en “gato” o “guapa”?
How do we form the sound /g/ as in “gato” or “guapa”?
Con la G + vocal a, o o u:
- G+a = gato, galleta, gas, pagar, Gales, Málaga, bióloga, bogavante
- G+o = gobierno, gorila, Burgos, bigote, psicólogo, abrigo
- G+u = guapa, guante, gusano, agua, rectángulo, Guatemala, guacamole
Con el dígrafo GU + vocal e o i:
- Gu + e = guerra, guepardo, gueto, hoguera, albergue, espaguetis
- Gu + i = guitarra, guiso, guillotina, conseguir, seguidora, siguiente águila
¿Qué pasa cuando se pronuncia la “u” seguida de “e” si van precedidas de “g”?
What happens if the “u” followed by “e” is pronounced, preceded by “g”?
We’ve seen that gu+e makes “gue” as in “guepardo” and gu+i makes “gui”, as in “guitarra”. What happens, then, when we need to pronounce that “u”? Well, in that case, the “u” will have an umlaut, those two little dots on top of it: “ü”. That symbol means that the “u” is not silent and that it must be pronounced.
Let’s see some examples:
- Gü+e = güe = cigüeña, bilingüe, vergüenza, nicaragüense, zarigüeya, ungüento, ambigüedad
- Gü+i = güi = pingüino, piragüista, lingüística, contigüidad, bilingüismo
👋 Despedida. ¡Apoya mi trabajo!
Goodbye. Support my work!
Bueno, pues creo que ya tienes suficiente para empezar. Espero que vuelvas el próximo viernes y no te pierdas la segunda parte de esta serie sobre sonidos y pronunciación en español. En el próximo episodio vamos a ver la “ll”, la “y”, la “r” vibrante simple o “suave” (como en caro) y la ”r” vibrante múltiple o “fuerte” (como en carro), la “ch” (o che) y, por supuesto, nuestra letra especial, la “ñ”.
Well, I think you have enough to get you started. I hope that you come back next Friday and don’t miss the second part of this series on sounds and pronunciation in Spanish. In the next episode we’re going to see the “ll”, the “y”, the rolled “r”, the soft “r”, the “ch” and, of course, our special letter, the “ñ”.
Remember that you can also follow me on Instagram and access more content to learn and practise Spanish. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can leave a comment on the post on my website. Please, if you’re reading the episode on my blog, press that “like” button and I’ll really appreciate it. You can also message me on Spotify, on the podcast website on Anchor, on my social media or you can go old school and send me an e-mail at zulemaspanishteacher@outlook.com
And, of course, on my website you’ll find the podcast and pronunciation videos to practice Spanish. And there will be much more in the future. Especially, if you support me, I’ll be able to continue offering more and more free and high-quality content on my website. Please, go to thespanishnotebook.com/supportmywork and support me. You can donate a one-time contribution or make it a monthly one.
¡Muchísimas gracias!
Nos vemos la semana que viene. ¡Hasta la próxima!
The Spanish Notebook 