Resources - Spanish pronunciation

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One of the many advantages of learning Spanish is that once you are aware of a few simple rules, you will be able to pronounce words correctly from day one. This is definitively an encouraging aspect of this language and therefore you should not miss the opportunity to learn those rules. Here they are:

Stress and accentuation:

First of all, you should not mix up the concepts of stress and accent. Stress refers to the part of the word which is pronounced with more strength. In this sense every word is stressed on one syllable or the other. An accent, on the other hand, (acento in Spanish) refers to a graphical sign above the vowel.

When you see the written accent, it is easy to decide: the stress falls on the accentuated syllable. But what happens when there is no written indication? Then it is convenient to be familiar with the three basic rules governing stress and accentuation in Spanish (just move your mouse over the word to listen to its pronunciation):

1. In words of more than one syllable, the stress falls on either the penultimate or the last syllable.
2. If the word ends in a vowel, n or s, the stress is on the penultimate syllable: casa, orden, españoles
3. If the word ends in any other consonant, then the stress falls on the last syllable: ciudad, mujer, peral.

Other usually tricky situations involve two-syllable words which combine different vowels. In these cases, what you need to remember is that in Spanish there are strong vowels (a, o and e) and weak vowels (i and u):

• When two strong vowels are combined they count as separate syllables. For example, ca-os.
• When u and i are combined they form a single syllable. This is called diphthong. In these cases the stress is always on the second vowel of the diphthong: ruido, viuda
• When there is a combination of weak and strong vowels they also form a single syllable, but here the stress is always on the strong vowel of the diphthong, no matter where it is placed: causa, fiera, oigo. If there is a need to stress the weak vowel, then this has to be indicated by an accent:día

The different sounds

In Spanish, almost every sound is always pronounced in the same way. Therefore, once you know how each letter is pronounced, you´ll be able to pronounce correctly any written word you see. Here´s a list of words which will help you learn the different sounds:

a: casa

b: bueno

c (before e and i): cena , precio

c (elsewhere): barco , crimen

d: dinero

e: pequeño

f: defensa

g (before e or i): genio, ágil

g (elsewhere): peligro, gato

h: historia

i: salir

j: naranja

k: kilo

l: pelo

ll: lluvia

m: mamá

n: cana

ñ: niño

o: poco

p: pelota

q: quiero

r (beginning of the word): río

r (elsewhere): pero

rr: perro

s: señor

t: roto

u: autobús

v: vaso

x: excepción

y: raya

z: plaza