Figuring Out the Rules of Spanish Pronunciation

Language Services Direct Team

When you start to learn Spanish, the unfamiliar sounds may throw off your comprehension and leave you facing an uphill battle against a rolled ‘r’ or a double ‘ll’. However, with a little practice you can perfect your pronunciation – and sound like a native speaker – in no time.  

Before we get started, it is worth bearing in mind that, just as the English language can be very different between, say, Australia, the United States and the UK (as well as the various dialects within those countries), Spanish pronunciation can differ between countries and regions. In a recent article, we explored the differences between Castilian and Latin American Spanish, as well as the regional languages in Spain – Catalan, Valencian, Galician and Basque. Castilian Spanish is the official language of Spain, and that is the version that most people learn when they take up Spanish – so this is the form of Spanish we are talking about here. (Generally, the rules of Spanish punctuation apply to most words across all Spanish dialects, but there are exceptions – and the regional languages of Spain can be quite different to Castilian Spanish too!) 

A-E-I-O-U: Getting to Grips with Spanish Vowels 

Luckily for learners, Spanish vowels always sound the same, although you need to be wary not to pronounce them like English vowels. 

Here are some examples to get you started: 

• A = ‘ah’ as in apple (rather than ‘ay’). For example: ‘agua’ (‘water’) 
• E = ‘eh’ as in element (rather than ‘ee’). For example: ‘enero’ (‘January’) 
• I = ‘ee’ as in eat (rather than ‘aye’). For example: ‘isla’ (‘island’) 
• O = ‘oh’ as in open (rather than ‘or’ or ‘oo’). For example: ‘océano’ (‘ocean’) 
• U = ‘oo’ as in smooth (rather than ‘uh’). For example: ‘uno’ (‘one’) 

A good tip to remember is that Spanish vowels are short rather than long (as is often the case in English), so keep your vowel sounds short and snappy. 

Teasing Your Tongue around the Consonants 

Consonants are a little more complicated, but at least the rules are also consistent. Here’s a common one, if you like spicy food: the ‘j’ sound is pronounced ‘h’, as at the start of jalapeño (pronounced ‘hah-lah-peh-nyoh’). But what about that strange symbol over the ‘n’? That is a tilde, an accent that changes the pronunciation of a fairly standard ‘n’ sound (as in ‘nada’, which means ‘nothing’) to a ‘ny’ sound (as in jalapeño, and also señor’ – pronounced ‘seh-nyohr’). 

One consonant down! Another consonant sound that stands out so may be easier to remember is the double ‘ll’. When this appears, you pronounce it with a ‘y-’ rather than an ‘ell’ sound – so you order a delicious dish of ‘pah-eh-yah’, not ‘paella’! 

If you are ready to dive deeper, consider the letter ‘d’. Just as you need to keep your Spanish vowel sounds short, you also need to keep your ‘d’ sounds crisp when they come at the beginning of a word. Think of the ‘d’ sound you make with the word ‘didn’t’ as opposed to the word ‘don’t’. The crisp ‘d’ in ‘didn’t’ is the one you are aiming for in Spanish words such as ‘dos’ (‘two’) and ‘decir’ (‘to say’). Look at this video pronunciation (click the audio button) of ‘decir’ to see the way your tongue should touch the back of your front teeth when speaking, and practise it where you can! 

Often, when the ‘d’ comes towards the end of a word, the sound is softer, almost like a ‘th’. Take a look at where the tongue should be for the second ‘d’ in the word ‘delgado’ (meaning ‘thin’). The sound is entirely different to the opening ‘d’ of ‘decir’. 

And the notorious rolled ‘r’s’? When a word has a double ‘r’, go for broke! Words starting with ‘r’ also have a rolled ‘r’ sound at the beginning – examples include ‘rosa’ (meaning ‘pink’), ‘rutina’ (meaning ‘routine’) and ‘rojo’ (meaning ‘red’). Watch the pronunciation of ‘perro’ (meaning ‘dog’) here to get a sense of how to construct the rolled ‘r’ – and listen carefully as you develop your language skills, as the rolled ‘r’ does pop up in other places too instead of the more familiar, standard ‘r’ sound we use in English (which is more like the ‘r’ in ‘routine’). 

The ‘Z’ and ‘C’ Differences Across the Atlantic 

One key pronunciation difference between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish is how the ‘z’ sound is pronounced. While the ‘z’ sounds like the ‘th’ sound in ‘threat’ or ‘thing’ in Castilian Spanish, the ‘z’ sound in Latin American Spanish is more like the ‘s’ sound in ‘sun’ or ‘sapphire’. Consider ‘cerveza’ (meaning beer), which is pronounced ‘thehr-beh-thah’ in Castilian Spanish but ‘sehr-beh-sah’ in Latin American Spanish. (Note also the ‘v’ sounding like a ‘b’ in both pronunciations!) 

Another notable difference here is the ‘c’ sound. In Castilian Spanish, the ‘c’ also sounds like ‘th’, which is why this sound occurs twice in ‘cerveza’. But in Latin American Spanish, the ‘c’ also sounds like the ‘s’ in ‘sun’ or ‘sapphire’, so you have two ‘s’ sounds in ‘cerveza’ in Latin American Spanish. Wrap your mind around that and you will be able to take your Spanish pronunciation across the Atlantic in no time! 

The more you listen to different Spanish words, you more you will discover new words that follow these rules (and many others) and help you make sense of Spanish punctuation. While reading this article, you may have already discovered a handful of new and useful Spanish words – contact us if you want to expand your repertoire!