Learn about Spanish vowels and diphthongs
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn all 5 Spanish vowel sounds. |
| ä, e̞, i, o̞, u |
| With these sounds, you can pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in Spanish! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first vowel is... |
| ä |
| rata (rat) |
| rana (frog) |
| azahar (orange blossom) |
| This is similiar to the A sound in the word 'spa' but there is one subtle difference: try to relieve the pressure from the back of the throat a little. |
| ä, ä (slowly) |
| ä, ä (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| e̞ |
| bebé (baby) |
| escalón (step) |
| vehemente (earnest) |
| This is similar to the E sound in the word 'let'. |
| e̞, e̞ (slowly) |
| e̞, e̞ (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| i |
| dimitir (to resign) |
| mío (mine) |
| tipo (type) |
| It's identical to the double E sound in the word 'see'. |
| i, i (slowly) |
| i, i (slowly) |
| The next vowel is... |
| o̞ |
| boscoso (forested) |
| oso (bear) |
| todo (all) |
| This is similiar to the O sound in the word 'boring'. |
| o̞, o̞ (slowly) |
| o̞, o̞ (slowly) |
| And the last vowel is... |
| u |
| dúo (duet) |
| cucurucho (cone) |
| curable (curable) |
| It's identical to the double OO sound in the word 'boot'. |
| u, u (slowly) |
| u, u (slowly) |
| Did you notice how in all of the examples the Spanish speaker said the vowels short and simply? |
| This is how you should do it too. |
| Many Spanish learners tend to stretch out the vowel sounds longer than needed. |
| Try to be careful about this fact. |
| Now let's move onto the next topic. |
| A diphthong, refers to two vowel sounds that are pronounced within the same syllable. You can kind of think of it like gliding from one vowel to the next very quickly. |
| "English has diphthongs as well. |
| Take the word 'loin' for example. |
| It's not pronounced 'lo-in', but 'loin'. " |
| "Notice how the O transitions into the I very quickly. It's almost like you're trying to merge the two sounds. |
| 'Loin'. |
| Notice the difference?" |
| Okay. Now, let's listen to a few examples in Spanish. |
| gracias (thank you) |
| gracias |
| hierba (herb) |
| hierba |
| agua (water) |
| agua |
| encuentro (meeting) |
| encuentro |
| causa (cause) |
| causa |
| neutro (neuter) |
| neutro |
| aire (air) |
| aire |
| trapezoide (trapezoid) |
| trapezoide |
| Okay. I think you got the hang of it. |
| Most vowel sound pairings are diphthongs in Spanish. However, sometimes they're pronounced individually. Listen to the following examples. |
| tía (aunt) |
| país (country) |
| mío (mine) |
| río (river) |
| Words that are pronounced seperately are marked with an rising accent from left to right. |
| We'll cover more about accentuation in lesson 8. |
| But that's all for vowels! |
| Well done! You've just learned all 5 vowel sounds in Spanish! |
| With these sounds, you can properly pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in the Spanish language! Isn't that great? |
| In the next lesson, you'll start learning consonant sounds. |
| Which diphthong is the most difficult to pronounce for you? Let us know in the comments. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
| Diphthongs |
| A group of two distinct vowels next to each other, pronounced as a single syllable. |
| English example: boil. |
| Two kinds: Arising Diphthongs, Falling Diphthongs |
| Arising, ones where the second element is more sonorous than the first |
| Formed by a closed U or I and then an open A, E, or O |
| ia |
| comedia |
| ie |
| hierba |
| io |
| cambio |
| ua |
| agua |
| ue |
| encuentro |
| ou |
| antiguo |
| Falling, those in which the first element is more sonorous than the second |
| Formed by an open A, E, or O and then a closed U or I |
| au |
| causa |
| ai |
| paisaje |
| eu |
| deuda |
| ia |
| penia |
| oi |
| trapezoide |
| This does not include all of the possible diphthongs in the Spanish language, but these are the ones you'll see the most often. |
| Difference between hiatus |
| Common mistake: Pronouncing diphthongs as a hiatus |
| hiatus: two vowels without a pause or intervening consonant sound |
| Cier (ci-er) |
| These don't form a single unit |
| In a haiatus, the vowels belong to different syllables |
| Poseer |
| Po-se-er |
Comments
Hide