Spanish Alphabet: Letters and Pronunciation

The Spanish alphabet (el abecedario), also known as el alfabeto, consists of 27 letters: 22 consonants and 5 vowels. It has one more letter than the English alphabet: the letter ñ (eñe).

Letter and letter sound	Letter name	Example word
a	a	amor
b	be	barco
c	ce	casa
d	de	dinero
e	e	elefante
f	efe	flor
g	ge	gema
h	hache	hada
i	i	imán
j	jota	jardín
k	ka	kilo
l	ele	lima
m	eme	mar
n	ene	nube
ñ	eñe	ñandú
o	o	oso
p	pe	paz
q	cu	queso
r	erre	rosa
s	ese	sol
t	te	taza
u	u	uva
v	uve/ve	verde
w	uve doble/doble ve	wifi
x	equis	xilofón
y	ye/i griega	yoyo
z	zeta	zapato

Quick tip: The letters of the Spanish alphabet are all feminine: la ene (n), la hache (h).

Spanish vowels

Each of the Spanish vowels represents one phoneme or sound. This means they have the same pronunciation regardless of the position in the word or the adjacent letters. Vowels are the only letters in the Spanish alphabet that can take a tilde or accent.

The five vowels in Spanish are: a, e, i, o, u.

Words with a:
abeja, arcoíris, agua, árbol, araña, anillo, amor, ancla.

Nearly all Spanish nouns and adjectives ending in a are feminine in gender. For example:
niña, muñeca, cara.

Words with e:
elefante, estrella, escalera, escoba, escudo, espejo, edificio, extraterrestre.

Words with i:
iglú, isla, imán, iluminar, insecto, iceberg, iglesia, impresora.

Words with o:
oruga, oreja, otoño, ocho, oso, ovni, ojo, oveja.

Nearly all Spanish nouns and adjectives ending in o are masculine in gender. For example:
niño, muñeco, caro.

Words with u:
ukelele, unicornio, uno, uvas, uña, universo, útiles, urna.

Spanish consonants

The Spanish alphabet has 22 consonants. Most of them represent one phoneme or sound.

The letters B and V

Though two different letters in spelling, b (be larga) and v (uve or ve corta) are pronounced in the same way.

Words with b:
banco, bandera, búho, barrilete, balde, banana, bufanda, burbujas.

Words with v:
volcán, vela, vestido, ventana, veinte, verdura, violín, vaca.

The letter C

Words with c:
corazón, carta, casa, cereza, cactus, campana, caracol, corona.

The letter c (ce) in Spanish is pronounced in two different ways depending on the following letter:

It is pronounced /k/ as in “key” if followed by a, o, u, or a consonant.
When followed by e or i, it is pronounced /θ/ as in “think” in Spain, and /s/ as in “see” in Latin America.
Words with CE - CI:
cena, cielo, cine, circuito, ciudad, ciclovía, círculo, cerca.
When followed by h, it is pronounced /ch/ as in “chair”.

Words with ch:
chispa, chancho, choza, chaleco, chocolate, chimenea, charco, chile.

The letter Q

The letter q (cu) has the same sound as the letter k. It always appears followed by a silent u in combination with letters e and i for the sequence sounding /ke/and /ki/.

Words with q:
queso, quebrar, querer, quitamanchas, química, quemar, quince, quirófano.

The letter K

The letter k (ka) has a low frequency of occurrence in Spanish, appearing mostly in terms of foreign origin. It is followed by all vowels.

Words with k:
kilogramo, kiwi, koala, kimono, kayak, karaoke, kétchup, karate.

The letters J and G

The sound of the letter j (jota) is similar to the English h as in “hot” (but stronger). It occurs before a vowel.

Words with j:
jarra, jaula, jirafa, Japón, jaguar, jardín, juego, joya.

The pronunciation of the letter g (ge) is similar to English g (but softer) when followed by a, o and u, or by a consonant.

Words with g:
gato, globos, galleta, guante, grúa, gorro, girasol, gota.

When followed by e and i, the pronunciation of the letter g coincides with that of Spanish j.

Words with ge or gi:
gema, genial, géminis, gelatina, girasol, gigante, gimnasia, Ginebra.

The sound of Y and LL

The Spanish letter y (ye) is pronounced as in the English word “yoga” in Spain, while in some Latin American regions it has a strong sound equivalent to /sh/. In final positions, its pronunciation coincides with that of the vowel i, for example:
rey, ley, hay.

Words with y:
yoyó, yema, yogur, yegua, yate, yacaré, yeso, yoga.

The digraph ll (elle), no longer part of the Spanish alphabet, doesn’t sound like an l. It is pronounced in exactly the same way as the letter y. Examples include:
lluvia, llave, llamar.

The letter H

The letter h (hache) in Spanish is silent, which means that it is written but not pronounced. It typically occurs in initial positions.

Words with h:
hacha, hoja, huevo, hongo, hilo, helado, hielo, huellas.

In combination with the letter c it forms the ch sequence, whose pronunciation is similar to the initial sound of “chair”, and includes words like:
chorizo, China, chivo.

The only case in which h is not silent is in words from foreign origin. It is aspirated and pronounced the same as the Spanish letter j. Examples include:
hámster, hardware, hawaiano.

The letter R

The letter r (erre) in Spanish is pronounced in two different ways:

It has a strong pronunciation when it occurs in initial positions or when spelled rr (called doble r):

Words with r:
raqueta, regalo, ratón, rey, reloj, regla, rosa, robot.

Words with rr:
perro, jarra, error, carrera, urraca, barrio, carretel, arruga.

It has a soft pronunciation when it occurs between vowels, in final position or after the letters s, l and n. Its sound is like the US double tt in “butter”:
amor, sur, arcoíris, breve, aro, crema, mar, color.

The letter Ñ

The letter ñ (eñe) is exclusive to the Spanish language and dialects derived from it. It is pronounced ni (the letter n + i), as in the words “onion” or “canyon”, and is always followed by a vowel. It is an infrequent letter in the Spanish language.