Some of the most common vowels and consonants are listed below, courtesy of Learn Spanish, a free online tutorial.
Letter |
Pronunciation |
a |
pronounced like the "a" in the word "father" |
e |
pronounced like the "a" in the word "date," except that it is shorter and crisper |
i |
pronounced like the "ee" in the word "see," except that the sound is shorter |
o |
pronounced like the "o" in the word "no," except that the sound is shorter |
u |
pronounced like the "ue" in the word "due," except that the sound is shorter |
d |
The Spanish "d" has two separate sounds, hard and soft. At the beginning of a word and after "n" or "l", the hard Spanish "d" closely resembles the "d" in the word "dog." The difference is that when pronouncing the hard Spanish "d", the tongue touches the back of the front teeth (rather than the gum ridge, as in English). In other situations (particularly between vowels) the "d" is softer, closely resembling the "th" sound in the word "this." |
r |
The Spanish "r" has two separate sounds, depending on whether or not it is the first letter of a word. Neither one of these sounds even remotely resembles the English "r" sound. When the "r" is the first letter of the word, it is trilled like the "rr", which is covered in the next lesson. Otherwise, the "r" sounds much like the "dd" of the word "ladder." (It's not exactly the same, but it's much closer to this "dd" sound than to the English "r" sound.) |
rr |
The Spanish "rr" is a vibrating, or trilling sound. The single "r" is also pronounced this way when it is the first letter of a word. |