| Unlike English, Spanish is actually pretty simple to | | | | Additionally, Spanish vowels for the most part |
| pronounce. Where English is rife with silent letters, | | | | always sound the same with two exceptions: the |
| complicated diphthongs, and contextual | | | | letters 'E' and 'U'. |
| pronunciations, such phenomena are mostly | | | | At the beginning of a word, 'e' is pronounced like |
| absent in Spanish. With few exceptions, each | | | | the 'e' in the English word "bet." At the end of the |
| Spanish letter represents one and only one sound. | | | | word, however, it is pronounced like the 'é' |
| How To Pronounce Spanish Consonants | | | | in the word "café." |
| Spanish consonants couldn't be simpler to | | | | The letter 'u' is silent after the letter 'q' and in the |
| pronounce. For the most part, you can get away | | | | combinations "gui" and "gue." In every other |
| with pronouncing Spanish consonants the same as | | | | situation, it is pronounced like the Spanish "oo" as |
| their English counterparts with a few exceptions. | | | | in "boot." |
| In Castilian Spanish, initial c's and s's are often | | | | Rules To Pronounce Spanish Accents |
| pronounced like an English 'th' rather than an | | | | The rules are as follows: |
| English 's'. Likewise, the Spanish 'c' usually sounds | | | | |
| like a hard 'k' when following certain consonants | | | | 1. If a word contains an explicit accent mark, that |
| and an 's' when following vowels and at the | | | | syllable is capitalized and super-cedes all other |
| beginning of the word, but these exceptions are | | | | pronunciation rules. |
| limited and far simpler than in English. | | | | 2. If a word ends in a vowel and has no explicit |
| How To Pronounce Spanish Vowels | | | | accent mark, the penultimate (next to last) |
| The main thing to know about Spanish vowels is | | | | syllable gets the accent. |
| that they tend to be pronounced like their English | | | | 3. If a word ends in a consonant and has no |
| equivalents only more "distinct," which means they | | | | explicit accent mark, the final syllable gets the |
| are tenser, tighter, and more forcefully. | | | | accent. |