The Spanish Alphabet
Comparing the Spanish Alphabet to the English Alphabet
The Spanish alphabet is relatively easy, especially as an English speaking person you will not have real troubles as it is very similar to the Alphabet of other European alphabets. We need to learn it, as it is the basis of the whole language and it will help you when it comes to learn words, phrases and the pronunciation. Spanish belongs to the Latin languages, for people who know for example Italian or French it is very easy. You already know other alphabets than just the English one? Perfect! You will learn it very fast! After learning the alphabet we recommend you to start with the numbers!
The Spanish Alphabet has 27 letters, just one more than the English one, the ñ. Those are the letters with their pronunciation:
A: a
B: be
C: ce
D: de
E: e
F: efe
G: ge
H: hache
I: i
J: jota
K: ka
L: ele
M: eme
N ene
Ñ: eñe
O: o
P: pe
Q: cu
R: ere (or erre)
S: ese
T: te
U: u
V: uve
W: uve doble
X: equis
Y: ye
Z: zeta
There are two more different letters, which are the ch and the ll.
The accents of the Spanish Alphabet
Another speciality of the Spanish alphabet is that there are accents. You may think that this will confuse you, but actually it is helpful, as the accents indicate how you have to pronounce the word. Furthermore exactly the same word can mean something totally different with an accent. An example is the “indefinido” and the “presente” in Spanish. If you write for example “llegó”, which means “he/she/it arrived”, and you write it without the accent it means “I arrive”. Therefore not just the time changes, but also the person! Sometimes when you do not pronounce the accent Spanishspeaking persons will not understand you. Other words with an accent are: fácil, sólo, té.
Why is it better to learn the Spanish Alphabet with audio?
VeinteMundos provided you with the the Spanish Alphabet and the way of pronunciation, but to pronounce it best you should learn it also with audio. Most of the people have a special “learning type”, but actually the best is a mixture. We recommend you to listen to an audio or a song and speak out loud the letters, this probably is the fastest and most effective way to learn it and to remember it for a longer period and not just a short time. After learning it you should remember it sometimes, so you do not forget it!
A song to learn the Spanish Alphabet
As already mentioned before, it is always better to learn something with audio. A lot of experts recommend to study with songs. There are a lot of different songs to learn the Spanish Alphabet and we picked out the one we liked most. We hope you enjoy it and we wish you fun!