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Spanish Alphabet
Listening to Spanish speakers roll their Rs and sound out other letters, you may be tempted to think that the Spanish alphabet is mysterious and exotic, but you would be wrong. The 27-letter alphabet, which is based off the Latin alphabet, does have a few extra Spanish letters, but it is almost the same as the English alphabet with a few exceptions. Pronunciation of individual letters is also strikingly similar with a few exceptions. Note that the provided alphabet list below offers phonetic pronunciation; the actual spelling for each letter is similar but not the same.
The Spanish alphabet and phonetic pronunciation:
| Aa: |
ah |
| Bb: |
beh |
| Cc: |
she |
| CHch: |
che |
| Dd: |
deh |
| Ee: |
eh |
| Ff: |
efeh |
| Gg: |
heh |
| Hh: |
acheh |
| Ii: |
ee |
| Jj: |
hota |
| Kk: |
kah |
| Ll: |
eleh |
| LLll: |
eyeh |
| Mm: |
emeh |
| Nn: |
eneh |
| Ññ: |
enyeh |
| Oo: |
oh |
| Pp: |
peh |
| Qq: |
cu |
| Rr: |
erreh |
| Ss: |
eseh |
| Tt: |
teh |
| Uu: |
uu |
| Vv: |
uveh |
| Ww: |
doble-uu or uveh-doble |
| Xx: |
equis |
| Yy: |
yeh |
| Zz: |
zetah |
In the alphabet above there are two extra letters listed, making a grand total of 29 letters. Of the three extra letters, CHch, LLll, and Ññ, Ññ is the most well-known and is considered an official letter. The other two are not always listed as letters in Spanish alphabet guides, but you may come across them in older alphabet listings.
The history of the letter Ññ can be especially interesting to a history buff studying Spanish words. Originally a line above the letter, also called a tilde, such as the ones used over an Nn denoted double letters in a word. Over time the tilde was dropped from other double letters, and eventually it began to represent sound instead. Some examples of Spanish words that came to use the letter Ññ are:
| Araña: |
Spider |
| Niña/Niño: |
Girl/Boy |
| Baño: |
Bathroom |
| Año: |
Year |
| Piñata: |
Piñata |
| Señor/Señora: |
Older man/Older woman can also be used for Sir/Madam |
| Señorita: |
Young lady/Miss |
| Piña: |
Pineapple |
With only one major deviation from the English alphabet the Spanish alphabet can be a quick study. Even pronunciation of the letters is largely phonetic and simple for students to pick up on. Since the alphabet is one of the first things you will study as you learn Spanish it may feel like a daunting task to begin with, but once you see all the familiar letters you will quickly realize that learning the alphabet will be one of your easiest Spanish lessons.
Spanish Alphabet Chart
|
Spanish Lexicon
|
Spanish Name
|
English
Approximation
|
Spanish Example
|
Memorization Tips
|
|
A,
a
|
a
|
blond
|
damos
|
always
open, like the ‘o’ of ‘hot’
(i.e. ‘ah’); never the closed ‘a’ sound of ‘hate’
|
|
B,
b
|
be
|
boy
|
bueno
|
the same as the
English ‘b’; also, the same as the Spanish ‘v’
|
|
C,
c
|
ce
|
face
|
hace
|
the soft ‘c’ or ’s’
sound
|
|
care
|
calor
|
the hard ‘c’ or ‘k’
sound
|
|
D,
d
|
de
|
dangle
|
diente
|
the ‘d’ in Spanish is
equivalent to the ‘d’ in English
|
|
E,
e
|
e
|
say
|
brillante
|
always
the closed ‘a’ sound of ‘ape’;
never the open “e” sound of ‘get’
|
|
F,
f
|
efe
|
fork
|
falda
|
the ‘f’ sound in the
Spanish is equivalent to the ‘f’ and ‘ph’ sound in English
|
|
G,
g
|
ge
|
herald
|
escoge
|
like
the ‘h’ in English, but slightly guttural
|
|
gale
|
gato
|
this
hard ‘g’ sound is equivalent to the hard ‘g’ in English
|
|
H,
h
|
hache
|
rhapsody
|
hora
|
the ‘h’ in Spanish is
always silent, like the silent ‘h’ in English
|
|
I,
i
|
i
|
meet
|
imponer
|
the
‘i’ in Spanish is always the ‘ee’ sound; never the open ‘i’ of
‘hit’,
nor the closed sound of ‘bite’
|
|
J,
j
|
jota
|
hope
|
julio
|
the ‘j’ in Spanish is
similar to the ‘h’ in Englis, except the Spanish ‘j’ is harsher,
slightly gutteral
|
|
K,
k
|
ka
|
coat
|
kilogramo
|
the hard ‘c’ or ‘k’,
like in English
|
|
L,
l
|
ele
|
lady
|
lograr
|
the ‘l’ in Spanish is
the same as in English
|
|
LL,
ll
|
elle
|
shove
|
llover
|
between
the ‘yuh’ sound of ‘y’ and the ’shuh’ in english
|
|
M,
m
|
eme
|
morning
|
martes
|
the ‘m’ in Spanish is
equivalent to the ‘m’ in English
|
|
N,
n
|
ene
|
nature
|
noche
|
the ‘n’ in Spanish is
the same as in English
|
|
ñ,
ñ
|
ñ
|
canyon,
unyoke
|
niño
|
unlike any single
letter in English, the ‘ñ’ must be distinguished from the
‘n’
|
|
O,
o
|
o
|
home
|
hablo
|
always
the closed ‘o’ of ‘hope’;
never the open ‘o’ of ‘hop’
|
|
P,
p
|
pe
|
parent
|
persona
|
the Spanish ‘p’ is
the same as the English
|
|
Q,
q
|
cu
|
take
|
trueque
|
always the hard ‘k’
sound; although always followed by the ‘u’, the ‘u’ is always
silent
|
|
R,
r
|
ere
|
NONE
|
rodeando
|
the ‘r’ in Spanish
requires the tip of the tongue to touch the front part of the roof
of the mouth
|
|
S,
s
|
ese
|
single
|
sonido
|
always
the soft ’s’ of ‘sound’
never the ‘z’ sound of ‘lands‘
|
|
T,
t
|
te
|
touch
|
tomar
|
the Spanish ‘t’ is
equivalent to the ‘t’ in English
|
|
U,
u
|
u
|
tube
|
suponer
|
always
the ‘oo’ sound of ‘fume’;
never the open ‘u’ sound of ‘upper’,
nor the closed ‘u’ of ‘unicycle’
|
|
V,
v
|
ve
|
big
|
ver
|
b,
like the English ‘b’; there is no phonetic difference between the
‘b’ and ‘v’ in Spanish
|
|
W,
w
|
ve
doble
|
water
|
water
|
only
used for foreign words, sounds like w or v in English
|
|
X,
x
|
equis
|
expresar
|
express
|
ex,
the hard consonant, as in English
|
|
xylophone
|
xenófobo
|
the
soft ‘c’ or ’s’, not vibrating ‘z’ of buzz
|
|
Y,
y
|
i
griega
|
yellow
|
yegua
|
the ‘yuh’ sound, very
similar to the English, sometimes with a soft ’sh’
|
|
Z,
z
|
zeta
|
zumbio
|
lace
|
the ’ss’ of ’s’,
never the ‘z’ of ‘buzz’
|
Spanish Ordinal Numbers
|
Abbreviated
English Numeral
|
English Ordinal
Number
|
Spanish Ordinal
Number
|
Abbreviated
Spanish Numeral
|
|
1st
|
first
|
primer, -o, -a
|
1°
|
|
2nd
|
second
|
segundo, -a
|
2°
|
|
3rd
|
third
|
tercero, -a; tercio,
-a
|
3°
|
|
4th
|
fourth
|
quarto, -a
|
4°
|
|
5th
|
fifth
|
quinto, -a
|
5°
|
|
6th
|
sixth
|
sexto, -a
|
6°
|
|
7th
|
seventh
|
séptimo, -a
|
7°
|
|
8th
|
eighth
|
octavo, -a
|
8°
|
|
9th
|
ninth
|
noveno, -a
|
9°
|
|
10th
|
tenth
|
décimo, -a
|
10°
|
|
11th
|
eleventh
|
undécimo, -a
|
11°
|
|
12th
|
twelfth
|
duodécimo, -a
|
12°
|
|
13th
|
thirteenth
|
decimotercero, -a
|
13°
|
|
14th
|
fourteenth
|
decimoquarto, -a
|
14°
|
|
15th
|
fifteenth
|
decimoquinto, -a
|
15°
|
|
16th
|
sixteenth
|
decimosexto, -a
|
16°
|
|
17th
|
seventeenth
|
decimoséptimo,
-a
|
17°
|
|
18th
|
eighteenth
|
decimoctavo, -a
|
18°
|
|
19th
|
nineteenth
|
decimonoveno, -a
|
19°
|
|
20th
|
twentieth
|
vigésimo, -a
|
20°
|
|
21st
|
twenty-first
|
vigésimo
primero
|
21°
|
|
22nd
|
twenty-second
|
vigésimo
segundo
|
22°
|
|
23rd
|
twenty-third
|
vigésimo
tercero
|
23°
|
|
24th
|
twenty-fourth
|
vigésimo
quarto
|
24°
|
|
25th
|
twenty-fifth
|
vigésimo
quinto
|
25°
|
|
26th
|
twenty-sixth
|
vigésimo
sexto
|
26°
|
|
27th
|
twenty-seventh
|
vigésimo
séptimo
|
27°
|
|
28th
|
twenty-eighth
|
vigésimo
octavo
|
28°
|
|
29th
|
twenty-ninth
|
vigésimo
noveno
|
29°
|
|
30th
|
thirtieth
|
trigésimo, -a
|
30°
|
|
40th
|
fortieth
|
cuadragésimo,
-a
|
40°
|
|
50th
|
fiftieth
|
cincuagésimo,
-a
|
50°
|
|
60th
|
sixtieth
|
sexagésimo,
-a
|
60°
|
|
70th
|
seventieth
|
septuagésimo,
-a
|
70°
|
|
80th
|
eightieth
|
octogésimo,
-a
|
80°
|
|
90th
|
ninetieth
|
nonagésimo,
-a
|
90°
|
|
100th
|
one-hundredth
|
centésimo,
-a; centeno, -a
|
100°
|
|
200th
|
two-hundredth
|
ducentésimo,
-a
|
200°
|
|
300th
|
three-hundredth
|
tricentésimo,
-a
|
300°
|
|
400th
|
four-hundredth
|
cuadricentésimo,
-a
|
400°
|
|
500th
|
five-hundredth
|
quingentésimo,
-a
|
500°
|
|
600th
|
six-hundredth
|
sexcentésimo,
-a
|
600°
|
|
700th
|
seven-hundredth
|
septingentésimo,
-a
|
700°
|
|
800th
|
eight-hundredth
|
octingentésimo,
-a
|
800°
|
|
900th
|
nine-hundredth
|
noningentésimo,
-a
|
900°
|
|
1000th
|
one-thousandth
|
milésimo, -a
|
1000°
|
|
