Spanish Pronunciation

Vowels

Vowels in Spanish are pronounced consistently and they are always short. In combinations vowels are always pronounced individually.

Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The exceptions are:

Written as	Example	Sound clip

v	vacaciones, viejo
z	zumo, zapato
c + i/e	cine, centro
c + other letters	casa, coche
h	hermano, helado
j	jamón, jota
g + i/e	gente, gigante
ñ	niño, piña
r beginning of word and after l, n, s	rojo, sonrisa
r between vowels	pero, caro
rr	perro, carro

Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The exceptions are:

Words in Spanish are stressed as follows:

word ending in a vowel or n or s – on the penultimate syllable casa, quieren, comes
word ending in any other consonant – on last syllable hablar, salud
irregular stress shown by an accent película