Spanish and English both use the Latin alphabet, but learning your Spanish ABCs is more than just recognizing letters; it’s about getting those sounds just right!
Mastering the Spanish alphabet is essential for proper pronunciation when you’re a new learner. The Spanish alphabet chart may look familiar at first glance, but those pesky Spanish vowels can really trip you up.
English speakers often have trouble keeping the Spanish vowels A, I, and E straight—and if you mix up their pronunciation, you’ll confuse everyone else, too.
Imagine this: If you pronounce papa (potato) as PAY-puh, that’ll sound like pepa (seed) to a Spanish speaker. And while you might be tempted to pronounce pepa as PEE-puh, a Spanish speaker will think you’re trying to say pipa (pipe).
And that’s just the vowels!
As you read and speak Spanish, pay close attention to your pronunciation to avoid confusion. Below, we’ll help you sound out each letter of the alphabet while highlighting tricky letter pairings, special characters, accents, and more.
Want to skip to the easier way to master the Spanish alphabet? Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent feature helps you master pronunciation for every word, phrase, and sentence you encounter. It’s built into each lesson, so you can refine your accent as you expand your Spanish vocabulary! Plus, we offer Latin American Spanish and Peninsular (Spain) Spanish, so you can master Spanish with or without the iconic Peninsular (Spain) Spanish lisp.
How many letters are in the Spanish alphabet?
The Spanish alphabet has a total of 27 letters. It includes the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, plus one more: Ñ.
The Spanish alphabet used to have more letters. In 2010, the Real Academia Española decided that the letters CH, LL, and RR should be combined with the letters C, L, and R. As a result, Spanish dictionaries no longer have separate sections for words that begin with those letter pairings.
Just like the English alphabet, the alphabet in Spanish has a name for every letter. When you learned the ABC song as a child, you were singing the names of the English letters. This is so basic that you probably don’t even think about it anymore.
The biggest difference is that in English, we don’t have a word for each letter. The Spanish alphabet does. You’ll see be written next to the character B on Spanish alphabet charts, and you may see it in print sometimes. Be is the name for the Spanish letter B.
Traditionally, some Spanish letters had slightly different names depending on the region, but the Real Academia Español designated one official name for each letter in 2010. However, many Spanish speakers still use the traditional letter names they learned as children.
In the following chart, regional variations are in parentheses where applicable, since you might encounter them in older texts or in conversation.
How to pronounce the Spanish alphabet
Now that you know how many letters are in the Spanish alphabet, it’s time to learn what they are and how to pronounce them. Many Spanish letters sound similar to their English counterparts, and Spanish pronunciation is very regular. That means that letters are consistently and predictably pronounced in most cases. In fact, Spanish is much more regular in its pronunciation than English!
| Letter | Name | Examples | Pronunciation |
| a | a | amigo | ah-MI-goh |
| b | be (be larga, be alta) | bola | BO-lah |
| c | ce | cenacama | SAY-nahKAH-mah |
| d | de | día | DEE-ah |
| e | e | entender | ehn-tehn-DARE |
| f | efe | foto | FO-toe |
| g | ge | gatogirar | GAH-toeHE-rar |
| h | hache | historia | ees-TOE-ryah |
| i | i | isla | EEZ-lah |
| j | jota | jefe | HEH-fay |
| k | ka | kilo | KEE-loh |
| l | ele | lindo | LEEN-doh |
| m | eme | mina | MEE-nah |
| n | ene | nativo | na-TEE-boh |
| ñ | eñe | España | es-PA-nya |
| o | o | lobo | LO-boh |
| p | pe | pato | PAH-toe |
| q | cu | queso | KAY-so |
| r | erre (ere) | peroperro | PEH-roPEH-rro |
| s | ese | sal | SAHL |
| t | te | tomate | toe-MAH-tay |
| u | u | uva | OO-bah |
| v | uve (ve, ve corta, ve chica, ve baja) | vaca | BAH-kah |
| w | doble uve (uve doble, u doble) | wifi | WEE-fee |
| x | equis | Méxicoxilófono | MEHK-see-kohsee-LO-fo-no |
| y | ye (i griega) | yo | yo |
| z | zeta | zafiro | za-FEE-roh |
As you can see in the chart above, a particular letter makes the same sound with very few exceptions.Three exceptions are the letters C, G, and R. These tricky consonants change their pronunciation based on the other letters around them.
The letter C makes a “k” sound when followed by A, O, or U, but it makes an “s” sound (or in Spain, “th” like “thin”) when followed by E or I.
| Spanish word | Pronunciation |
| casa | KAH-sah |
| codo | KOH-DOH |
| cuna | KUH-nah |
| ceja | SAY-ha or THAY-ha |
| cita | SEE-ta or THEE-ta |
The letter G makes a hard “g” sound before A, O, or U, but it makes an “h” sound before E or I.
| Spanish word | Pronunciation |
| gafas | GAH-fahs |
| gota | GOH-ta |
| gusto | GOOSE-toe |
| gesto | HEHS-toe |
| gigante | hee-GAN-tay |
The letter R is trilled when at the beginning of a sentence or when it’s a double RR:
| Spanish word | Pronunciation |
| recuerda | rray-KWER-dah |
| carro | KAH-rroh |
Mastering these subtleties is essential for speaking Spanish like a native. With consistent practice, these letters will roll off your tongue in no time.
>>Practice pronouncing these 100+ basic Spanish words!
Silent letters: H and U
You’ll find two silent letters in the Spanish alphabet. Here’s what you need to know.
Silent H
Known as H muda (mute H), the Spanish letter H is silent in most words. The Spanish words hola and ola are pronounced exactly the same. There are just two exceptions to the silent H:
- The letter combination CH, as in churro. The Spanish CH makes the same sound as in the English word “church.”
- A few obviously foreign words make an H sound, like hall (yes, that comes from the English word “hallway”) or hockey.
If H doesn’t make a sound, why does it exist in Spanish? It’s a relic from Old Spanish, a time when the letter was pronounced. But just because it’s old and usually silent doesn’t mean it’s useless: the H can separate two vowels that would form a diphthong if they were side-by-side. For example:
The word búho (owl) is pronounced with two syllables as BOO-oh. Without the H, it would be buo, and it would be pronounced with just one syllable as BWOH.
In modern spoken Spanish, it’s common for people to let the vowels run together despite the H that separates them. That’s why the Spanish word alcohol is typically pronounced with just two syllables, al-KOL.
Silent U
The letter U can be silent in Spanish, depending on the letters around it. U is silent only when it’s part of the letter groups GUE, GUI, QUE, or QUI.
| Spanish word | Pronunciation |
| guerra | GEH-rrah |
| guitarra | GEE-tah-rrah |
| queso | KEH-so |
| aquí | ah-KEE |
In the examples above, the U after doesn’t change the way you pronounce the word, and it doesn’t add another syllable. Guitarra is still just gee-TAH-rah, and guerra is still just GEH-rrah.
Understanding the roles of H and U is key to accurate Spanish pronunciation. It’s all about being aware of their presence in written Spanish without letting them affect your spoken Spanish.
Remember: these silent letters are seen but not heard!
Special characters: The ñ and the tilde
The Spanish letter Ñ has a wavy line above it that English speakers call a “tilde.” However, in Spanish the word tilde can refer to an acute accent mark or the Ñ. Spanish has another word for the wavy line above the Ñ, too. It’s also called a virgulilla.
In the Spanish alphabet, you’ll only find the tilde over the letter Ñ. No other letter can use it.
The tilde over the Ñ represents a distinct sound in Spanish, similar to the NY in “canyon” or the NI in “onion.” You’ll notice Ñ in more than 15,000 Spanish words, including España (Spain), mañana (tomorrow), and el baño (the bathroom).
How do accents affect Spanish alphabet pronunciation?
Accents play a crucial role in Spanish, but they don’t change the pronunciation of individual letters. You’ll notice that the presence of an accent mark over a letter does not make it a special character, like the tilde does to the ñ. Instead, accent marks simply indicate where the stress falls on a word, and they help us emphasize the correct syllable.
Here’s how Spanish accents can affect the pronunciation of individual letters and syllables.
Marking irregular word stress
Word stress is the emphasis we place on a particular syllable of a word when we speak. Spanish has standard rules about word stress, and an accent mark is required when a word doesn’t follow the rules. Accents tell us which words have irregular word stress, and they help us understand which syllable should receive the most emphasis when speaking. La luciérnaga (the firefly) is an example of a word that has an accent mark because it breaks the rules about word stress.
Breaking a diphthong
In Spanish, A, E, and O are considered strong vowels and I and U are considered weak vowels. When a weak vowel appears next to another vowel, they combine to make a single sound that we call a diphthong. When an accent mark appears over the weak vowel, it breaks the diphthong and each vowel is pronounced separately. Examples include la cafetería (cafeteria), María (the name “Mary”), and la fotografía (the photograph).
How does the Spanish lisp affect alphabet pronunciation?
The “Spanish lisp” is more accurately described as a difference in pronunciation. It’s considered standard Peninsular Spanish, though it’s important to know that not everyone in Spain uses standard Peninsular Spanish. In some regions, Spanish people pronounce C and Z similarly to Latin American Spanish speakers.
Let’s take a look at how standard Peninsular Spanish pronounces the letters C and Z:
- C makes a “th” sound when it appears before the vowels E or I. This is the same sound in the English word “thin.” So cena (dinner) is pronounced THAY-nah, and gracias (thank you) is pronounced GRAH-thyahs.
- C makes a hard “k” sound when it appears before A, O, or U. Casa (house) is pronounced KAH-sah, and culpa (guilt) sounds like KUL-pah.
- Z always makes a “th” sound. Zapato (shoe) sounds like thah-PAH-toe, and zona (zone) is pronounced THO-nah.
The “Spanish lisp” is one of many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation. While it is a distinguishing feature of standard Peninsular Spanish, it’s just one example of the linguistic diversity found in the Spanish-speaking world.
When learning Spanish, it’s helpful to be aware of regional differences, especially if you’re aiming for a specific accent or if you’ll be communicating with people from a particular region.
Master the Spanish alphabet and beyond
As you can see, mastering Spanish pronunciation goes far beyond memorizing the alphabet. Those subtle distinctions between vowel sounds, consonants, and regional differences are vital when you want to speak with accuracy and fluency.
It may seem daunting at first, but having the right tools makes all the difference. With Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition technology, you’ll get real-time feedback on your pronunciation as you learn. No more guessing if you’re saying it right!
Beyond the alphabet, our immersive program builds fluency, without memorization or boring drills. If you’re ready to speak like a native, there’s no better solution than Rosetta Stone.
Written by Laura Skidmore
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