The Spanish Alphabet: Pronounce All 27 Letters Like a Native

Here’s the payoff that makes the Spanish alphabet worth learning properly: Spanish is pronounced the way it’s written. Master the sound of each letter once, and you can say any Spanish word correctly — even one you’ve never seen before. English can’t offer you that deal.

The alphabet — el abecedario or el alfabeto in Spanish — also gets you through everyday moments that trip learners up: spelling your name at a hotel desk, or taking down an email address over the phone.

El Alfabeto Español

The official alphabet has 27 letters: 22 consonants and 5 vowels. That’s the English alphabet plus one extra — ñ, the ny sound in canyon that you already know from piñata. The tilde (~) started life as a second, smaller n: words now spelled with ñ were once written with a double n. España (Spain) was Espanna, and dueña (landlady) was duenna — a spelling English borrowed and still uses today.

How Natives Spell Out Loud

Each letter below comes with its Spanish name in square brackets, how to say that name in round brackets, and its phonetic word — the Spanish equivalent of Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. Those phonetic words matter more than you’d think: b and v sound identical in Spanish, so on the phone, de Barcelona or de Valencia is often the only way to tell them apart.

• A [a] (ah) de Antonio: An ah sound between the a in father and the a in mat — but shorter than in most English words; don’t stretch it. Examples: madre (mother), mañana (tomorrow), arándano (blueberry).
• B [be] (beh) de Barcelona: Two sounds. At the start of a word or after m/n, like the English b in boy. Everywhere else it’s softer, with the lips slightly apart. Beber (to drink) and barbilampiño (clean-shaven/baby-faced) contain both.
• C [ce] (theh/seh) de Cádiz: Before e or i it’s soft — th in think in Spain, s in sun in Latin America. Otherwise it’s hard, like the k in key (except in the digraph ch). In a double c like acción (action) or traducción (translation), the first is hard and the second soft. Examples: caricia (caress), cerca (near), clave (key), ancla (anchor).
• D [de] (deh) de Dinamarca: Like the English d in down at the start of a word or after i or n. In the middle or at the end of a word it softens to the th in bathe, and word-finally it’s often barely voiced. Examples: dar (to give), andar (to walk), aldea (small village), voluntad (will).
• E [e] (eh) de España: Not the English e — this one matters. It’s eh, as in “Eh, what was that?”, always short, never the long ee of need. Examples: ejercer (to practise a profession), enojarse (to get angry), me emborraché (I got drunk).
• F [efe] (ef-eh) de Francia: Same as English. It also replaces the English ph: foto (photo). Examples: fanfarronada (boast), efímero (fleeting).
• G [ge] (heh) de Guatemala: Before e or i, a harsh English h — the ch in Scottish loch, nearly the same as Spanish j but slightly less breathy. Everywhere else, including the digraph gu, it’s the g in game. Examples: Gijón (northern coastal city), ángel (angel), ganado (livestock), gozar (to enjoy).
• H [hache] (ah-cheh) de Huelva: Silent. Always. Pretend it isn’t there — the only exceptions are foreign place names like Hawái and the digraph ch. Examples: hechizo (spell), anhelo (yearning), herencia (inheritance).
• I [i] (ee) de Italia: Like the ee in see or the i in machine, a touch shorter. Never the English i in if. Examples: inhabilitar (to disqualify), idóneo (ideal), inicial (initial).
• J [jota] (hoh-tah) de José: Like the soft g — a harsh h, the ch in loch — but breathier, with more vibration in the throat. Examples: jilguero (goldfinch), jorobar (to annoy), enjuagar (to rinse).
• K [ka] (kah) de kilo: Rare, and the same as the English k. Examples: keniano (Kenyan), bikini (bikini), kilómetro (kilometre).
• L [ele] (el-eh) de Lérida: Like the English l but with the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth. Examples: lujuria (lust), lilailas (tricks), lealtad (loyalty).
• M [eme] (em-eh) de Madrid: Same as English. Examples: mamífero (mammal), amante (lover), momificar (to mummify).
• N [ene] (en-eh) de Navarra: Same as English. Examples: ningún (not a single), nada (nothing), tienen (they have).
• Ñ [eñe] (en-yeh) de ñu (gnu): The ny in canyon or the ni in onion. Examples: añoranza (longing), teñir (to dye), ñoño (dull/crybaby).
• O [o] (oh) de Oviedo: Like the o in no or so, but shorter. Examples: otorgar (to award), angosto (narrow), otorrinolaringólogo (ENT specialist).
• P [pe] (peh) de Portugal: Same as English. Examples: papiro (papyrus), papal (papal), ripio (rubble).
• Q [cu] (koo) de queso (cheese): Always travels with a u, forming the digraph qu — pronounced like the k in key. Examples: querer (to want), quedar (to arrange to meet), quizás (perhaps).
• R [erre] (air-eh) de Roma: A softer version of the d in caddy — tap the tip of your tongue just behind your front teeth. At the start of a word it becomes the trilled rr. Some speakers also trill it at the end of infinitives like hablar (to speak), but you don’t need to. Examples: pero (but), amparar (to protect), faro (lighthouse), regar (to water).
• S [ese] (es-eh) de Sevilla: Same as the English s. Examples: sesgado (biased), sesión (session), sistemas (systems).
• T [te] (teh) de Tarragona: Like the English t but softer, without the puff of air. Examples: tartamudo (stutterer), tita (grandma/auntie), tantear (to feel out).
• U [u] (oo) de único (unique): The oo in food or the u in lunar. After a g it forms the digraph gu. Examples: cúrcuma (turmeric), usuario (user), unir (to join).
• V [uve] (oo-veh) de Valencia: Exactly the same as b — no difference at all. Vaso (glass) and baso (I base) sound identical, which is why even natives misspell b/v words. You just have to learn the spellings. Examples: selva (jungle), voy (I go), víveres (supplies).
• W [uve doble] (oo-veh doh-bleh) de Washington: Not a native letter — loanwords only, so pronunciation varies. German borrowings like Wagner take an English v; otherwise the English w gets you by. Examples: wakeboard (wakeboard), waterpolista (water polo player), wolframio (tungsten).
• X [equis] (eh-kees) de xilófono (xylophone): Usually the ks in socks: extraño (strange), tórax (thorax), explicar (to explain). In some place names it behaves differently — like a j in México and Texas, like an s in Xochimilco.
• Y [i griega] (ee gree-eh-gah) de yegua (mare): Normally the English y in yes; at the end of a word it shifts to the y in say. The word y (and) on its own is pronounced like Spanish i — a plain ee. Examples: ayuntamiento (town hall), yuyal (scrubland), hay (there is/are).
• Z [zeta] (theh-tah/seh-tah) de Zaragoza: The soft c, everywhere: th in think in Spain, s in sun in Latin America — never hard. Examples: zanahoria (carrot), hizo (he/she did), zozobrar (to sink, to fail).

The Rules Worth Remembering

Three habits separate native-sounding spellers from learners:

• Keep the vowels short — and remember they are never silent.
• The h is always silent.
• Letters are feminine: la letra, las letras.

Recite the list a few times with the pronunciation notes in front of you, and you’ll be able to pronounce any letter — and therefore any word — of the Spanish alphabet like a native.