Pronunciation

VOWELS

Letter in Spanish	Corresponding Sound in English
a	sofa, America
e	best, bed
i	machine, routine, did
o	tomorrow, Portland
u	rune, loot

DIPHTONGS

Letter in Spanish	Corresponding Sound in English
ai, ay	eye
ei, ey	hey
oi, oy	toy
ui, uy	gooey
ia	yah
ie	yeh
io	Radio But clipped
iu	ew
ou	ouch
eu	NO EQUIVALENT Try saying the first part of the word “Beowulf”
ua	wah
ue	weh
uo	woah

CONSONANTS

Letter in Spanish	Corresponding Sound in English	Practical Rules and Notes
b	boat, beer
c	kite, cap, cut	before a, o, u and consonants other than h
	center, cylinder	Latin America, before e, i and consonants other than h
	theory	Spain, before e, i
d	dog, diamond
f	fun, father
g	guns, gum, gold	before a, o, u
	him, her	Before e, i
h	NO SOUND	H is silent; do not pronounce unless preceded by C or S
j	have, loch
k	kite, cap, cut	Same sound as c
l	lead
m	man
n	nothing
ñ	onion	In phonetic transcription, you’ll find it as /ɲ/
p	paper, print
q	kin, kimono, Kerry	Before ue, ui. In native Spanish words, it never precedes a, e, i, o
	water, enter	In any part of the word other than the beginning, it is soft
s	soap, serve
t	total, tip
v	boat, beer	In Spanish, there is no distinction between the b and v sounds
w	whisky, Hawaii
x	existence, Mexico	Can have wither of these three sounds. Which sound to use has to be memorized, for there is no rule to follow.
	Shawn, show
	silver, Sion
y	yes
z	Andalusia, silence	In Latin American Spanish, this sounds like s
	theory	In Spain, this has the th sound

DOUBLE CONSONANTS

Letter in Spanish	Corresponding Sound in English	Practical Rules and Notes
ch	chair, chimney
rr	NO EQUIVALENT	rolled r
ll	yes
sh	insurance, shame