Pronunciation of B

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1. Lesson 1

14 questions

2. Lesson 2

17 questions

3. Lesson 3

15 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

The letter bin Spanish is pronounced like the English letter b in words such as bank or rebel. However, the sound does vary slightly, depending on the position of the letter in a word. Compare, for example, the sound of the English b in bank and rebel with the b in their Spanish translations, bancoand rebelde.

The Sound of the Letter “B”

"B" Is a Consonant

The letter b represents the Spanish consonant sound, or phoneme, /b/. When a consonant sound is uttered, the flow of air out of the mouth is partially or completely blocked at some point.

The name of this letter is pronounced be.

Note that b is not the only Spanish letter to represent the phoneme /b/. The Spanish letter v is also pronounced this way!

How to Pronounce "B" in Spanish

The Spanish b is labial, which means it is pronounced by pressing the lips together, closing the mouth completely for an instant. Then, the air is let out abruptly.

Unlike the sound of p, which is a similar sound, the vocal cords vibrate when uttering b, so linguists classify it as voiced, or sonorain Spanish. Check out how it is pronounced in these words: bata(robe), bravo(fierce), robar(steal), hambre(hunger), obtener(obtain), kebab(kebab).

Is the Spanish "B" Similar to the English "B"?

Yes, it’s like the English b in words such as bath or bomb when it is found at the beginning of a word or after the letter m. Consider, for example, the letter b in the translations of bath and bomb—bañoand bomba.

However, in the rest of the positions, the Spanish b is like the English b, but often pronounced with the lips barely open rather than closed tight. Linguists represent this variant sound of b as [β̞]. You may hear this sound inside a word between vowels and/or consonants (except before m), for example: caballo(horse), recibir(receive), abrir(open), árbol(tree), etc.

When “B” Becomes Softer or Silent

In everyday speech, you may hear a b before s that is so soft that it sometimes becomes almost inaudible or silent. Some examples of this include obstáculo(obstacle) or abstracto(abstract).

Some Spanish words containing the letter group bs have developed accepted spelling variants without the b which are sometimes even more common than their main form. Two good examples of this phenomenon include suscripción(subscription) and sustancia(substance), which are more frequently used than subscripciónand substancia.

A few of these words are not written with a b anymore, such as oscuro(dark). If you have any doubts about the correct spelling of any of these words, you can check them out in our dictionary.

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

Spanish	English	Position-Combination
beso	kiss	beginning of word + vowel
bueno	good	beginning of word + vowel
blanco	white	beginning of word + consonant
brazo	arm	beginning of word + consonant
dibujo	drawing	inside word + between vowels
rebaño	herd	inside word + between vowels
bomba	bomb	inside word + beginning of syllable
resbalar	slip	inside word + beginning of syllable
abdomen	abdomen	inside word + end of syllable
absurdo	absurd	inside word + end of syllable
obtener	obtain	inside word + end of syllable
esnob	snobbish	end of word
videoclub	video store	end of word

One Letter, One Sound

The pronunciation of the letter b varies little throughout the Spanish-speaking world, so there shouldn’t be much difference between the way bebé(baby) sounds in Texas, the Andes, or Patagonia.