Pronunciation of H and Ch

Start first lesson

1. Lesson 1

15 questions

2. Lesson 2

15 questions

3. Lesson 3

13 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

Although the letter his typically not pronounced in Spanish, there are three ways that you may hear the h pronounced (or not!):

In most cases, the letter h is not pronounced in Spanish, such as in hermana(sister).

The letter h may be pronounced roughly like the English h of ham in only a few foreign words used in Spanish, such as hámster(hamster).

The letter group chhas its own pronunciation in Spanish, which sounds just like the ch in the English word church. You can hear the Spanish ch in the word ancho(wide).

The letters ch in Spanish are pronounced similarly to the English ch in words such as cheese or march! Compare, for example, the ch sound in the English word church and the ch sound in the Spanish word leche.

The Silent H

Saying that a letter is silent means that it is not pronounced. For example, the pronunciation of the Spanish word almohada(pillow) may be transcribed /almoáða/. As you can see, the letter h doesn’t represent any sound, or phoneme, in the word almohada, so linguists say it’s silent, or mudain Spanish.

This is the case for most of the Spanish words that contain the letter h. Some examples of words with a silent h include: haber(have), hola(hello), ahora(now), enhorabuena(congratulations), and eh(hey).

So, If It's Silent, Why Is It Used?

The presence of the letter h in Spanish words is mostly due to their origin, or etymology (etimología). Many of these h words come from Latin words that were already written with an h or are derived from other languages, such as Greek. For example, the word hoy(today) derives from the Latin hodie.

How Do I Know When to Write H in Spanish?

The fact that h is silent in Spanish makes it hard to predict when a word is written with or without it. Here’s a table with a few tips that will help you spot words that are spelled with an h:

Tip	Spanish	English	Exceptions
Before the vowel groups ua, ue, ui	náhuatl, hueso, huir	Nahuatl, bone, escape	---
Before vowel groups ia, ie	hiato, hielo, enhiesto	hiatus, ice, upright	---
Words beginning hum- + vowel	humano, húmedo, humilde, humor, humus	human, damp, humble, humor, humus	---
Words beginning herm-, hist-	hermoso, historia	beautiful, history	ermita(chapel), ermitaño(hermit), istmo(isthmus)
Words beginning hog-, holg-, horm-, horr-, hosp-	hoguera, holgado, hormiga, horror, hospital	bonfire, loose-fitting, ant, horror, hospital	ogro(ogre)
Words beginning with the prefixes hemi- (half), hepat- (liver), hetero- (different), hexa- (six)	hemisferio, hepatitis, heterosexual, hexágono	hemisphere, hepatitis, heterosexual, hexagon	---
Words beginning with the prefixes hidr- (water), hiper- (extreme, extremely), hipo- (low, under), homo- (same)	hidráulico, hipertensión, hipotermia, homosexualidad	hydraulic, high blood pressure, hypothermia, homosexuality	---

Remember that the letter group ch, also called chein Spanish, has its own pronunciation, which is practically identical to the English ch in the words church or exchange. Examples of the pronunciation of ch in Spanish include: chica(girl), hacha(ax), ancho(wide), and sándwich(sandwich).

The Aspirated H

A number of Spanish words that have been taken directly from a foreign language, or loanwords (préstamos), keep the aspirated sound of the letter h that is used in their language of origin. When they are assimilated into Spanish, they undergo little or no adaptation to the Spanish spelling system.

Remember that aspiration is the sound of air being exhaled after certain letters.

This pronunciation is achieved by expelling the air straight from the throat with some force. It sounds approximately like the h of the English words ham or her, and it’s also very close to the sound of the Spanish letter j in jamónor the letter g in gente.

Some examples of loanwords that contain an h that is often pronounced include: hall(foyer), taken from English; dírham(dirham), from Arabic; hámster(hamster), from German; and haiku(haiku), from Japanese.

Although many of these loanwords stay somewhat close to their original pronunciation, others are quickly transformed and adapted to the Spanish spelling system. That happened, for example, to words imported from the U.S. such as jonrón(home run) and jaibol(highball).

Examples

Let’s look at some examples of words containing the silent and aspirated letter h in different word positions and letter combinations.

Spanish	English	Type	Position-Combination
hamburguesa	burger	silent	beginning of word + vowel
hermano	brother	silent	beginning of word + vowel
hígado	liver	silent	beginning of word + vowel
hoyo	hole	silent	beginning of word + vowel
huelga	strike	silent	beginning of word + vowel
ahí	there	silent	inside word + between vowels
búho	owl	silent	inside word + between vowels
adhesivo	sticky	silent	inside word, after consonant
alhaja	jewel	silent	inside word, after consonant
anhelar	long for	silent	inside word, after consonant
deshacer	undo	silent	inside word, after consonant
ah	ah	silent	end of word
hockey	hockey	aspirated	beginning of word
hawaiano	Hawaiian	aspirated	beginning of word

The Sound of the Letters Ch

The letters ch represent the Spanish consonant sound, or phoneme, /tʃ/.

How to Pronounce Ch in Spanish

The sound of the Spanish ch is pronounced by placing the tip of the tongue against the ridge just behind your upper front teeth. To produce the sound, press the tongue against the alveolar ridge and then release it quickly, forcing air to be expelled from your mouth. The movement is a quick, sharp release which creates a characteristic ch sound.

Is the Spanish Ch Similar to the English Ch?

Yes, it's basically the same as the English ch in words such as cheese or march! Compare, for example, the ch sound in the English word church and the ch sound in the Spanish word leche.

Examples

Let’s look at some examples of words containing the letters ch in different places in Spanish words.

Spanish	English	Where It's Found
chico	boy	beginning of word
chaqueta	jacket	beginning of word
chispa	spark	beginning of word
chiste	joke	beginning of word
chapotear	to splash	beginning of word
chuleta	chop	beginning of word
charla	talk	beginning of word
champú	shampoo	beginning of word
charco	puddle	beginning of word
churro	churro	beginning of word
leche	milk	between vowels
cuchara	spoon	between vowels
pechuga	breast	between vowels
lechuga	lettuce	between vowels
sándwich	sandwich	end of word

Now let's take a look at some sentences that contain h and ch in Spanish!

Spanish	English
Hugo hizo un sándwich de chocolate.	Hugo made a chocolate sandwich.
Las muchachas charlan junto a la chimenea.	The girls chat by the fireplace.
Los hermanos comparten la almohada.	The siblings share the pillow.
El cachorro chupó el hueso.	The puppy sucked on the bone.
La chica chapoteó en el charco.	The girl splashed in the puddle.
Héctor observó el cohete desde su vehículo.	Hector watched the rocket from his vehicle.
Henar horneó un pastel en el horno.	Henar baked a cake in the oven.
Hugo comió un helado de fresa.	Hugo ate a strawberry ice cream.
Chenoa hirvió los huevos.	Chenoa boiled the eggs.
¿Helena guardó sus ahorros debajo de la almohada?	Did Helena keep her savings under her pillow?
¿Crees que Horacio lanzó un hechizo contra la lechuza?	Do you think Horace cast a spell on the owl?