Skip to main content

Learn the Spanish Alphabet and Its Sounds

By Lucia Published:

6 min video

Get comfortable with the Spanish alphabet and the sounds behind its letters. Lucía models pronunciation so you can connect spelling with speech.

Watch the lesson

Try it yourself

Spell your name and three everyday words aloud in Spanish. Replay any letters that feel unfamiliar and compare their sounds.

Watch the original lesson on YouTube.

Edited lesson transcript and examples

Read the complete substantive lesson in its original order, including the original Spanish models and practice. This readable transcript is edited from the complete manual English and original automatic English captions, with Spanish text checked against the original video graphics. Caption mistakes and punctuation are repaired; contextual translations and labelled learner notes are additions. The instructor’s examples, humor and teaching priorities are retained. Chapter timestamps are approximate. This is a source-based edited transcript, not a continuous pronunciation assessment. Music and the brand bumper are omitted.

The sound drills retain the original letter order and syllables. Follow the video for the spoken sounds; the written drills are not phonetic transcriptions.

0:00 — Introduction

The Spanish alphabet. I’m going to explain the pronunciation of all the letters in Spanish.

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?
Example translation: Hello! How are you?

This is Lucía from My Daily Spanish. Today we’re going to learn the Spanish alphabet and how to pronounce it. Are you ready? Let’s go.

¡Vamos!
Example translation: Let’s go!

0:18 — The letter names

The lesson presents the letters in this order.

A
Spanish letter name: a

B
Spanish letter name: be

C
Spanish letter name: ce

D
Spanish letter name: de

E
Spanish letter name: e

F
Spanish letter name: efe

G
Spanish letter name: ge

H
Spanish letter name: hache

I
Spanish letter name: i

J
Spanish letter name: jota

K
Spanish letter name: ka

L
Spanish letter name: ele

M
Spanish letter name: eme

N
Spanish letter name: ene

Ñ
Spanish letter name: eñe

O
Spanish letter name: o

P
Spanish letter name: pe

Q
Spanish letter name: cu

R
Spanish letter name: erre

S
Spanish letter name: ese

T
Spanish letter name: te

U
Spanish letter name: u

V
Spanish letter name: uve

W
Spanish letter name: uve doble

X
Spanish letter name: equis

Y
Spanish letter name: i griega

Z
Spanish letter name: zeta

Learner note — Letter names: The current alphabet has 27 letters. The video’s i griega is an accepted name for Y; ye is the recommended name. Uve doble is written as two words. Letter names are distinct from their sounds in words. Source: RAE–ASALE. See also RAE on letter names.

1:22 — The five vowels

So you see, in Spanish we have just five vowels, and they are always pronounced like that. No changes.

A E I O U
Practice text: The five vowel letters.

Learner note — Basic vowel model: This is the beginner five-vowel sound model. It does not mean that every written vowel is pronounced in every spelling: the lesson itself later shows silent u in qu and gu before e or i. Source: RAE–ASALE.

1:32 — Consonant practice

Let’s have a look at the consonants and their pronunciation one by one. These are the original practice syllables; use the video to follow the sounds. They are drills, not lists of complete words.

1:36 — B syllables

BA BE BI BO BU
Practice text: B practice syllables.

1:41 — C syllables

CA CE CI CO CU
Practice text: C practice syllables.

1:46 — D syllables

DA DE DI DO DU
Practice text: D practice syllables.

1:51 — F syllables

FA FE FI FO FU
Practice text: F practice syllables.

1:56 — G syllables

GA GE GI GO GU
Practice text: G practice syllables.

Learner note — G before vowels: G has the hard sound before a, o and u, and the jota-like sound before e and i. The later gu and gü drills show how to keep the hard sound before e or i. Source: RAE–ASALE.

2:01 — H syllables

HA HE HI HO HU
Practice text: H practice syllables.

It’s silent.

Learner note — Silent H: H is silent in ordinary standard Spanish words. Some foreign words and names retain an aspirated sound, so the basic rule is not universal across every borrowing. Source: RAE–ASALE.

2:06 — J syllables

JA JE JI JO JU
Practice text: J practice syllables.

In Spanish, we write the laugh sound with J.

2:16 — K syllables

KA KE KI KO KU
Practice text: K practice syllables.

2:21 — L syllables

LA LE LI LO LU
Practice text: L practice syllables.

2:26 — M syllables

MA ME MI MO MU
Practice text: M practice syllables.

2:31 — N syllables

NA NE NI NO NU
Practice text: N practice syllables.

2:36 — Ñ syllables

ÑA ÑE ÑI ÑO ÑU
Practice text: Ñ practice syllables.

2:41 — P syllables

PA PE PI PO PU
Practice text: P practice syllables.

2:48 — Q syllables

QUE QUI
Practice text: Q practice syllables.

We don’t have words with just Q in the ordinary spelling pattern shown here. We use QU with E and I, and the U makes no sound: it’s silent.

Learner note — QU: The beginner pattern is que and qui, with silent u. Q can occur without u in certain names, abbreviations and unadapted foreign words; these are outside the basic drill. Source: RAE–ASALE.

3:04 — R syllables

RA RE RI RO RU
Practice text: R practice syllables.

Lucía demonstrates the strong sound at the beginning of a word, then the weaker sound in the middle, using the same syllables again.

Learner note — R in context: A single r is tapped between vowels, but it is also strong after l, n or s at the beginning of a syllable. Position inside a word alone does not always make it weak. Source: RAE–ASALE.

3:16 — S syllables

SA SE SI SO SU
Practice text: S practice syllables.

3:21 — T syllables

TA TE TI TO TU
Practice text: T practice syllables.

3:26 — V syllables

VA VE VI VO VU
Practice text: V practice syllables.

In Spanish, we don’t make any big distinction in the pronunciation of B and V.

3:31 — W syllables

WA WE WI WO WU
Practice text: W practice syllables.

Learner note — W in borrowed words: This drill models one pronunciation pattern. W can represent a b-like sound or a u/w-like sound, depending on the word’s origin. Source: RAE–ASALE.

3:36 — X syllables

XA XE XI XO XU
Practice text: X practice syllables.

At the end of words it is pronounced like “CS”.

Learner note — X in context: X is generally pronounced like s at the beginning of a word and ks between vowels or at the end. There are exceptions, including some names and regional word pronunciations. Source: RAE–ASALE.

3:46 — Y syllables

YA YE YI YO YU
Practice text: Y practice syllables.

3:51 — Z syllables

ZA ZE ZI ZO ZU
Practice text: Z practice syllables.

3:56 — Regional pronunciation

This is the standard pronunciation model shown for Spain. In southern regions of Spain, you can hear people use the S sound in place of the Z sound, as also happens in Latin America. You can also hear people pronounce the S sounds with the Z-type sound, and it’s not a lisp.

Learner note — Regional models: The distinction between s and the z/ce/ci sound is common in much of central and northern Spain. Seseo merges them with an s sound and is accepted throughout Latin America and parts of Spain. Ceceo merges them with a dental sound in some southern Spanish varieties; it is a regional pronunciation, not inherently a speech disorder. Source: RAE–ASALE. See also RAE–ASALE on seseo.

4:12 — Digraphs

The last thing about the Spanish alphabet: there are five digraphs in Spanish. The video describes a digraph as “a sound composed of two letters”.

Learner note — Definition: More precisely, a digraph is a pair of letters representing one sound. The five Spanish digraphs are ch, ll, gu before e/i, qu before e/i, and rr. Source: RAE–ASALE.

4:20 — CH

CHA CHE CHI CHO CHU
Practice text: CH practice syllables.

4:25 — LL

LL — elle
Practice text: The video’s name for the LL digraph.

You can even find it in some alphabet lists after L. The pronunciation demonstrated is the same as Y.

LLA LLE LLI LLO LLU
Practice text: LL practice syllables.

Learner note — Current alphabet and yeísmo: CH and LL were treated as separate letters in older alphabet lists; they are digraphs in the current 27-letter alphabet. Pronouncing LL like consonantal Y is widespread, accepted yeísmo. Some speakers distinguish their sounds. Source: RAE–ASALE.

4:40 — GU and GÜ

GU, only with E and I, is pronounced with the hard G sound. If we put the double dots, la diéresis, on U, then we pronounce U.

GUE GUI
Practice text: The U is silent.

GÜE GÜI
Practice text: The U is pronounced.

Learner note — Diéresis: In güe and güi the two dots mark pronounced u. These combinations are shown to contrast with the silent-u digraph gu. Source: RAE–ASALE.

4:54 — QU

Only with E and I—you already knew that.

QUE QUI
Practice text: QU practice syllables, with silent U.

4:59 — RR and the two R sounds

Some people differentiate between erre and ere: one “ere”, two “erre”. But usually people say erre for everything. This is the double R, always the strong RR sound.

RRA RRE RRI RRO RRU
Practice text: The video’s strong-R sound practice tokens.

Double RR is never written at the beginning of words, only inside. Words beginning with R have a strong sound.

Learner note — Names and spelling: The current standard letter name is erre, not ere; the digraph is erre doble. The RRA-style drill isolates the trill; it is not the normal spelling at the start of a Spanish word. Word-initial strong R is written with one r; rr represents the strong sound between vowels. Source: RAE–ASALE.

raro
Example translation: strange; rare

rata
Example translation: rat

burro
Example translation: donkey

5:32 — Closing

That was it: an explanation of the Spanish alphabet. I hope you understood everything well. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. Like and subscribe for more videos. See you soon!

Want to use this in real conversations?In the Spanish Accelerator, a coach corrects you live, every week, until speaking feels natural.
See how it works