Pronunciation of E

Start first lesson

1. Lesson 1

16 questions

2. Lesson 2

16 questions

3. Lesson 3

17 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

The letter ein Spanish is pronounced like the letter e in the English words net or ten. It is also like the letter a in words like train or say, but shorter. Compare the sound of the e and a in net, ten, train and say with the e in their Spanish translations, red, diez, tren, and decir.

Written Vowels vs. Vowel Sounds

In Spanish, each written vowel corresponds to a single vowel sound, called a phoneme (fonema). There are five vowels in Spanish: a, e, i, o, u.

Although y is considered a consonant, it has the same sound as i in certain words and positions, such as hoy(today).

Remember that the h is almost always silent in Spanish, so it does not make any sound in the word hoy above.

The Sound of the Letter “E”

How to Pronounce "E" in Spanish

The letter e represents the Spanish vowel sound, or phoneme, /e/. Vowel sounds are made with your mouth open and not blocked by your tongue in any way. To properly pronounce the vowel e in Spanish, you should open your mouth about halfway, and the front part of your tongue should be close to your hard palate. Check it out in these words: evitar(avoid), Europa(Europe), ser(be), abundante(abundant), nadie(no one).

So, the Spanish "E" is Like the English “E”, Right?

Yes. It’s quite similar to the English short e that can be heard in words like leg or eggplant, whose translations have the Spanish e sound: piernaand berenjena. It is also similar to the sound of the letter e in weight, only much shorter, as you can hear in its translation, peso.

Let’s look at some examples of words containing the letter e, whether the letter is stressed or unstressed, what position the letter is in, and what vowel the e is combined with.

Spanish	English	Stress	Position-Combination
épico	epic	stressed	beginning of word
error	error	unstressed	beginning of word
lejos	far	stressed	inside word
lector	reader	unstressed	inside word
café	coffee	stressed	end of word
sobre	envelope	unstressed	end of word
aéreo	aerial	stressed	combined with a
teatro	theater	unstressed	combined with a
peine	comb	stressed	combined with i
sonríe	he/she smiles	unstressed	combined with i
Noé	Noah	stressed	combined with o
león	lion	unstressed	combined with o
juez	judge	stressed	combined with u
reúma	rheumatism	unstressed	combined with u

One Letter, One Sound

The pronunciation of the letter e varies very little throughout the Spanish-speaking world, so there shouldn’t be much difference between the way bebé(baby) sounds in Miami, Bogota, or Tenerife.

It’s A Word Too!

Finally, be prepared to find e in speech and written texts as a word in its own right! That’s because it is used to replace the conjunction ybefore words that begin with i or hi, as in español e inglés(Spanish and English) or hijo e hija (son and daughter). This is a language device that is used to avoid the dissonant repetition of the i sound.