Pronunciation of F

Start first lesson

1. Lesson 1

16 questions

2. Lesson 2

14 questions

3. Lesson 3

16 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

The letter fin Spanish is pronounced like the letter f in English, for example in words such as favor, information, or scarf. Compare the sound of f in favor, information, and scarf with the f in their Spanish translations, favor, información, and bufanda.

The Sound of the Letter “F”

“F” Is a Consonant

The letter f represents the Spanish consonant sound, or phoneme, /f/. 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 efe.

How to Pronounce "F" in Spanish

The Spanish f is labiodental, which means it is pronounced by placing the tip of the upper teeth on the lower lip so that the air is uninterruptedly expelled through the small gap between them.

Additionally, the vocal cords do not vibrate when uttering f, so linguists classify it as voiceless, or sordain Spanish. Check out how the f is pronounced in these words: fiesta(party), freno(brake), refinado(refined), alfombra(rug), enfrente(opposite), and naíf(naive).

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

Yes, it’s very similar to the English f in words such as friend or leaf.

Note that the sound of the Spanish f is also the same sound as the English gh in rough or the ph in phone, but those two letter groups are hardly ever used in Spanish. If they are, they don’t use the sound or phoneme /f/. There are only two relatively common words that contain them: the noun ghanés(Ghanaian) and the chemical abbreviation pH(pH).

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

Spanish	English	Position-Combination
familia	family	beginning of word + vowel
fuego	fire	beginning of word + vowel
flaco	thin	beginning of word + consonant
frío	cold	beginning of word + consonant
elefante	elephant	inside word + between vowels
profundo	deep	inside word + between vowels
delfín	dolphin	inside word + beginning of syllable
marfil	ivory	inside word + beginning of syllable
satisfacción	satisfaction	inside word + beginning of syllable
afgano	Afghan	inside word + end of syllable
nafta	gasoline	inside word + end of syllable
chef	chef	end of word
golf	golf	end of word
rosbif	roast beef	end of word

One Letter, One Sound

The pronunciation of the letter f varies very little throughout the Spanish-speaking world, so there shouldn’t be much difference between the way fofo(flabby) sounds in Puerto Rico, Chile, or the U.S.