Pronunciation of I

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1. Lesson

17 questions

2. Lesson 2

16 questions

3. Lesson 3

16 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

The letter iin Spanish is pronounced like the letter groups ee in free or ea in leave, but much shorter than in English. Compare the sound of the ee and ea in free and leave with the i in their Spanish translations, libreand irse.

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 “I”

How to Pronounce "I" in Spanish

The letter i represents the Spanish vowel sound, or phoneme, /i/. Vowel sounds are made with your mouth open and not blocked by your tongue in any way.

To properly pronounce the vowel i in Spanish, you should have your lips barely open and the front part of your tongue should be close to your hard palate. Check it out in these words: imagen(image), Italia(Italy), vino(wine), aire(air), taxi(taxi).

When “I” + Vowel Becomes a Consonant

When a Spanish word or syllable begins with the phoneme /i/ followed by a vowel, the written word almost always begins with a silent h. This sound combination is almost pronounced like the consonant y. Some words beginning with hia-, hie-, etc., have even developed a spelling variant with y! One example of this phenomenon is hierbavs. yerba(grass). But be careful! This hasn't happened with all hia- or hie- words. Others have no spelling variant, like hielo(ice).

Is the Spanish "I" Like the English "I"?

The Spanish i is similar to the English long i in words like ending—only much shorter—as you can hear in its translation, final.

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

Spanish	English	Stress	Position-Combination
ídolo	idol	stressed	beginning of word
ideal	ideal	unstressed	beginning of word
piso	floor	stressed	inside word
médico	doctor	unstressed	inside word
aquí	here	stressed	end of word
casi	almost	unstressed	end of word
caída	fall	stressed	combined with a
alergia	allergy	unstressed	combined with a
ríen	you/they laugh	stressed	combined with e
pie	foot	unstressed	combined with e
tío	uncle	stressed	combined with o
avión	airplane	unstressed	combined with o
fluir	to flow	stressed	combined with u
ciudad	city	unstressed	combined with u

Why Is It Sometimes Called “I Latina”?

The name of this letter is simply i, but some native speakers use the alternative name i latinato distinguish it from i griega. In 2010, the Real Academia Españolamade a few changes to the Spanish alphabet. I griega was the traditional name of the letter y, whose official name since 2010 is pronounced ye.

One Letter, One Sound

The pronunciation of the letter i varies very little throughout the Spanish-speaking world, so there shouldn’t be much difference between the way difícil(difficult) sounds in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, or Paraguay.