The Spanish Alphabet

The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters: the 26 of English plus ñ. Ch and ll are letter pairs, not separate letters (since 2010). Tap any letter to hear its name in Spanish.

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All 27 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name in Spanish.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
be say “beh” b as in “bed”; between vowels softer, the lips barely touch. B and V sound the same.
ce say “seh” k before a, o, u; s before e, i (th as in “think” in most of Spain)
de say “deh” d as in “dog”, tongue on the teeth; between vowels soft, like th in “this”
e say “eh” e as in “bed”
efe say “EH-feh” f as in “fun”
ge say “heh” g as in “go” before a, o, u; before e, i a rough h, like ch in Scottish “loch”
hache say “AH-cheh” silent
i say “ee” ee as in “see”
jota say “HOH-tah” a rough h, like ch in Scottish “loch” (a softer h in much of Latin America)
ka say “kah” k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
ele say “EH-leh” l as in “let”
eme say “EH-meh” m as in “man”
ene say “EH-neh” n as in “no”
eñe say “EH-nyeh” ny as in “canyon”
o say “oh” a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)
pe say “peh” p as in “spin” (no puff of air)
cu say “koo” k; only in que and qui, where the u is silent
erre say “EH-rreh” one quick tap, like tt in American “butter”; rolled at the start of a word and after n, l, s
ese say “EH-seh” s as in “sun”
te say “teh” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
u say “oo” oo as in “food”
uve say “OO-beh” b as in “bed”; between vowels softer, the lips barely touch. B and V sound the same.
uve doble say “OO-beh DOH-bleh” w as in “water”, sometimes b; only in foreign words
equis say “EH-kees” ks as in “taxi”; like the Spanish j in a few Mexican names (México)
ye say “yeh” y as in “yes”, often stronger, close to j in “jam”; alone (y = “and”) it sounds like ee
zeta say “SEH-tah” s as in “sun” in Latin America; th as in “think” in most of Spain (never z as in “zoo”)

6 letters that sound different for English speakers

Never the English j: a rough h, as in “loch” el jabón · soap
Before e and i it sounds like the Spanish j la gente · people
Always silent: hombre = “OHM-breh” el hombre · man
Sounds like b: vaca = “BAH-kah” la vaca · cow
Never a buzzing z: s in Latin America, th in Spain los zapatos · shoes
Tapped like tt in “butter”; rolled at the start of a word el ratón · mouse

CH, LL, RR, QU and the accent marks

Letters	Example	Sound
ch		ch as in “church”
ll		y as in “yes” in most countries (sh or zh in Argentina and Uruguay)
rr		a strong rolled r: several quick taps of the tongue tip
qu · gu		qu = k, and gu before e or i = g as in “go”: the u is silent (in güe, güi it is said)
á é í ó ú		The accent marks the stressed syllable; the vowel sounds the same

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.