Spanish Alphabet Pronunciation Chart Page 3
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Spanish
p
p (as in “patter”)
q
k (as in “marker”)
r
r (as in “rest” or “murmur”)
rr
“rolling r”
s
s (as in “nestle”)
t
t/th (softer than “t” but harder than “th”)
(as in “cattle”)
w
same as b/v (only found in foreign words)
x
“ks” (as in “exam”)
“h” (as in “ham”)
“ch” (as in “sheer”)
y
y- (as in “yap”)
z
“th” (Spain)
“s” (Latin America)
Accent and Stress Rules
Reglas de Acentos y Estrés
As in English, in Spanish each word consisting of more than one syllable carries stress, or emphasis, on a
certain vowel in a certain syllable. The principles governing stress in Spanish are as follows:
1) If a word ends in a vowel, n, or s, the default stress falls to the penultimate (i.e., second-to-last)
syllable.
ex:
mer-CA-do
2) If a word ends in any consonant other than n or s, the default stress falls to the ultimate (i.e., last)
syllable.
ex:
ver-DAD
With few exceptions, any word whose actual pronunciation is the same as its default pronunciation need
not carry an accent. However, when the actual and default pronunciations of a word differ, the
vowel/syllable that “steals” stress must bear an accent.
ex:
último
Default Pronunciation: ul-TI-mo
Actual Pronunciation:
UL-ti-mo
Therefore, the u in the first syllable must bear an accent.
último
Accents are often necessary for some verb conjugations and forms. Here are a few of many examples:
1) When pronouns (e.g., object, reflexive) are appended to the ends of gerunds, accents are often
necessary in order to preserve the original stress.
Ex:
Estoy buscando (bus-CAN-do) mi reloj.
Estoy buscándolo (bus-CAN-do-lo).
Ex:
Me estoy cepillando (ce-pi-LLAN-do) los dientes.
Estoy cepillándomelos (ce-pi-LLAN-do-me-los).
2) When pronouns are appended to the ends of commands, accents are often necessary in order to
preserve the original stress.
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P á g i n a
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