The Sounds of Spanish

Quick Answer

Linguists refer to the different sounds in a language as phonemes (fonemas). For example, the c and r sounds in cosa(thing) and rosa(rose) are phonemes.

Spanish sounds are either vocales(vowels) or consonantes(consonants).The majority are represented in writing by a single letter.

Spanish Vowels

Here’s a table with the 5 vowel phonemes of Spanish. It contains the letters used to convey these sounds in written Spanish, pronunciation tips, and examples of words containing each sound.

Phoneme	Letter	Pronunciation	Tip	Example Words
/a/	a	ah	Similar to the a in father.	papa, agua
/e/	e	eh	Similar to the e in ten.	esperanza, bebé
/i/	i, y	ee	Similar to the ee in see.	sí, Lima, rey, hoy
/o/	o	oh	Similar to the ow in low.	loco, oso
/u/	u	oo	Similar to the oo in soon.	grupo, música

Spanish Consonants

Below you’ll find the Spanish consonant phonemes, the letters used to represent them in writing, some pronunciation tips, and examples. As you can see, many of them are represented by a single letter or letter group, but some can be written using several different letters. The actual pronunciation of the consonants may vary across the Spanish-speaking world, but only slightly.

Phoneme	Letter or Letter Group	Pronunciation Tip	Example Words
/b/	b, v	Similar to the b in bed.	bello, rumba, valla
/ʧ/	ch	Similar to the ch in church.	chico, ocho
/d/	d	Similar to the d in date (but with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth, not the gum).	dar, falda, andar
/f/	f	Similar to the f in fiction.	fresco, oferta
/g/	g(followed by a, o, or u), gu(followed by e or i)	Similar to the g in get.	gato, gota, guerrero, anguila
/k/	c(except when followed by e or i)qu(followed by e or i), k	Similar to the k in kiss or the c in captain.	cama, cosa, cuerno, queso, química, karaoke, kilo, anorak
/ʝ/	ll, y	Similar to the y in yellow or the j in judge.	llama, caballo, yate, rayo
/l/	l	Similar to the l in lost.	loco, pala, gol
/m/	m	Similar to the m in mom.	madre, cama, campo
/n/	n	Similar to the n in night.	noche, luna, cien
/ɲ/	ñ	Similar to the gn in lasagna or the ny in canyon.	sueño, español
/p/	p	Similar to the p in pack.	padre, capa
/ɾ/	r	Similar to the t in the U.S. pronunciation of the word water.	árbol, madera, sonar
/r/	rror r(at the beginning of a word, at the beginning of a syllable following a syllable ending in a consonant, and, for some speakers, at the end of a word)	The rolled r can be produced by quickly touching the tip of your tongue to the bump behind your front teeth multiple times.	ropa, rueda, carro, barrio, honrado, Israel
/s/	s, z, c(followed by e or i), x( at the beginning of a word)	Similar to the s in sing.	solo, casa, zapato, caza, luz, cero, ciencia, xenofobia, xilófono
/θ/	z, c(followed by e or i)	Similar to the th in thing.	taza, zorro, azul, cesto, encima
/t/	t	Similar to the t in top.	tocar, tapa
/w/	u, ü, w	Similar to the w in what.	guapo, pingüino, wifi
/x/	j, g(followed by e or i), x(especially in Mexico)	Similar to the h in hat.	jamón, jirafa, ojo, gente, México, texano
/χ/	j, g(followed by e or i), x(especially in Mexico)	Similar to the ch in loch.	jarra, jinete, cajón, gerente, mexicano

/χ/ is used in some parts of Spain instead of /x/, which is the norm in Latin America.

/θ/ is only used in parts of Spain. For further info, click here.

Consonant Variants

Some Spanish consonants may have slightly different pronunciations depending on their position in a word and/or a speaker’s particular accent. The table below shows some of the most common Spanish consonant variants.

Phoneme	Variant	Pronunciation Tip	Example Words	Notes
/b/	[β]	It is close to the b in bed, but with the lips slightly open.	cabello, ave, árbol, cerveza	Spanish speakers pronounce the /b/ this way in all positions except at the beginning of a word or after m or n.
/d/	[ð]	Like the th in this.	lado, verde, desde	Spanish speakers pronounce the /d/ this way in all positions except at the beginning of a word or after n or l.
/g/	[ɣ]	This sound doesn't exist in English, but it sounds a bit like if you gargled the g in get.	aguja, águila, alguien, burgués	Spanish speakers pronounce the /g/ in all positions except at the beginning of a word or after n.

The River Plate Palatals

The River Plate area is a region of South America comprising the territories around the Río de la Plata, namely Uruguay, Paraguay, and large parts of Argentina, including Buenos Aires. Speakers from this area tend to pronounce y and ll like the s in English pleasure or the sh in ship. For these two variant sounds, linguists use the symbols [ʒ] and [ʃ], respectively.