How do you say...

Alright, I know I promised we’d jump right into present tense, but I forgot you don’t know how to pronounce anything.  So, let’s start with the basic alphabet.

Letter	What it sounds like in Spanish	How do you spell and pronounce the letter itself?	How do I make that sound?
A	Makes a sound like “Ah” as in saw.	A Ah	Open your mouth and say ah.
B*	Makes a soft b/v sound.  B and V actually sound the same in Spanish.	Be Beh (like better, but make it more V-ish)	The lips barely touch as you rub them together and make a b/v sound.
C	In front of E or I, it makes an “S” sound as in city.  In front of consonants and A, O, or U it makes a “K” sound as in act or can’t.	Ce Ceh (like send)	Say ssss or ka.
Ch	Just like English as in church.	Che Cheh (like chess)	Say cha.
D	Usually sounds like “the.” However, at the beginning of words it is pronounced like a soft English D.  Some books say if it comes after certain consonants it also makes a soft D.	De Deh (like den)	Make a sound like “the” or for a soft D place the tip of the tongue behind the teeth as you say da.
E	Makes a sound like “Eh” as in send.	E Eh	Say eh like you’re shrugging and don’t care.
F	Just like English F as in found.	Efe Ehfeh	Say ffff.
G	In front of E or I, it makes a sound like the English H like “heat.”  In front of consonants and A, O or U it sounds like the English G as in “gone” or “again.”	Ge Heh (like hemp)	Say ha or ga.
H	Silent.  Unless it is preceded by C, then it makes the “Ch” sound.	Hache Ah-cheh	Don’t make a noise.
I	Sounds like the English E as in me.	I Ee (like see)	Say eeeeee like you’re really excited.
J	Sounds like the English H	Jota Ho-ta	Say ha.
K**	Just like English K as in kid.	Ka Kah (like Karl)	Say ka.
L	Just like English L as in lime.	Ele Eh-leh	Say la.
Ll	There are different sounds for Ll depending on what country you are in.  It can be like the English Y as in you, or like Sh as in shush, or like a mix between Z and J as in measure or mahjong, or like a solid J as in just.  I usually either say it like Y or the Z and J mix.	Elle Eh-yeh or eh-sheh or eh-zjeh or eh-jeh. And there are others….	To make the Y, say ya. To make the Sh, say sha To make the Zj, say something like the S in measure. To make the J, say ja.
M	Just like English M as in mine.	Eme Eh-meh (like men)	Say ma.
N	Just like English N as in nine.	Ene Eh-neh (like neck)	Say na.
Ñ	Sounds like the ny combination in canyon.	Eñe Eh-nyeh (like canyon)	Say the ny in canyon.
O	Just like the hard English O as in open.	O Oh	Say oh.
P	Just like English P as in pound.	Pe Peh (as in peck)	Say pa
Q	Must always come before a U.  If the U then comes before E or I, the U is silent and the Q sounds like K as in kink.  If the U comes before A or O the Q and U make a combination sound like quack.  See below for further explanation.	Qu Coo (as in cool)	Say ka or qua
R	If it comes at the beginning of a word, roll the R like you’re Spanish.  If it comes after the beginning, it is like a weird English D.	Ere Eh-reh (as in rest, but make like it a D…)	Rolling R’s can be hard. The tip of the tongue repeatedly strikes the hard palate.  Practice by taking a big breath and forcing out, “Harrrrr.”  That’s how my dad got it down in Italy. R/D’s are almost as bad.  Instead of making the regular English R, tap the tip of the tongue on the hard palate of the mouth.  For practice, try just saying Eddie using only your tongue and not your teeth.  Then say it fast.  This is about the sound you want.  (If you can get down the R/D, do it many times very fast and you’re rolling the R!)
Rr	Roll the R.	Erre Eh-(roll the R)eh	See above.
S	Just like English S as in seat, though in Spain they sometimes make it a “th” sound as in thought.  We’re in America, so we’re not going into that.	Ese Eh-seh	Say sa
T	Similar to English T as in touch, but softer.	Te Teh (like ten)	Place the tip of the tongue behind the teeth, just like we did with the soft D, and say ta.
U	Similar to hard Engish U as in astute, but never give it a yu sound as in accuse.  (In Spanish usar, which means to use, should never sound like you-sar.  It’s oo-sar)	U Oo (like Oo, we’re almost done!)	Say oo, like you’re really excited.
V	Soft B/V sound.  See B above.	Ve Beh (see B above)	See B above
W***	Just like English W as in walk.	Doble Ve Doh-Bleh Beh	Say wa
X	Usually just like English X as in extinct.  However, in native words like Mexico or Oaxaca, the X sounds like the English H as in hot.  At the beginning of words like xilófono, it makes a Z sound.	Equis Eh-kees	Say ex. (Note, it’s not like exactly, which has a sound like eggs.  More like excite.) Or ha. Or za.
Y	See Ll	I Griega Ee gree-eh-gah	Se Ll
Z	Just like English S as in sight.	Zeta Seh-tah.	Say sa.  Don’t say za.

*Which is why you’ll sometimes see things like “Vien Benidos” on signs instead of the correct “Bien Venidos.”

** K is not really a Spanish letter and is usually only used in words brought over from other languages, as in bikini and kilometro.

***W is not really a Spanish letter and is usually only used in words brought over from other languages, as in walkman and windsurfista.

G has some funny rules associated with it.  If a U and then an A or O comes after, then you make a “guah” or “guoh” sound.  If a U and then an E or I comes after, then you don’t say the U, and you say, “geh” as in get, or “gee” as in geezer.  Also, there’s a symbol in Spanish, ü.  If this symbol comes after the G and is followed by an E or I, then you do make the U sound.

How it’s spelled	How it’s said	How it’s spelled	How it’s said	How it’s spelled	How it’s said
Ga	Gah	Gua	Guah	N/A	N/A
Ge	Heh	Gue	Geh (get)	Güe	Gweh
Gi	Hee	Gui	Gee (geezer)	Güi	Gwee
Go	Goh	Guo	Guoh	N/A	N/A
Gu	Goo	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Q also has some interesting rules.  It will always be followed by U, but if it is then followed by an A or O, the U makes a sound.  If it is then followed by an E or I, the U doesn’t make a sound.

How it’s spelled	How it’s said.
Qua	Kwa
Que	Keh
Qui	Kee
Quo	Kuo

Accenting

So, now you know how to say the letters, but how about a word?  Here are the rules of where to put the accent so you get the emphasis on the right syllable.

If a word ends in a vowel, or in the consonants N or S, then the accent goes on the second-to-last syllable. 

            Ex: mosca, chistoso, contestan, asquerosos.

If a word ends in a consonant other than N or S, then the accent goes on the last syllable.

            Ex: cantar, electricidad, general, feliz.

However, if there’s an accent mark, then the above rules go out the window, and you put the accent where it says.

            Ex: difícil, fácil, nación, trabajáramos.

Diphthongs

A diphthong is when 2 vowels come together to make one syllable.  In English, we have words like quit, where the U and I make two different sounds but you say them together.  This is a diphthong.  However, in the word quiet, the U and I combine, yet the E doesn’t, and we have two syllables.  In Spanish, we also have diphthongs, and there’s an easy rule to know whether or not the vowels will or won’t combine.

A, E, and O are called strong vowels, and I, U and Y are called weak vowels.  I don’t know why, but that’s what they’re called.  If a strong and a weak vowel are next to each other in a word, or if two weak vowels are next to each other, they will make a diphthong.  If two strong vowels are next to each other, they will not make a diphthong.

Diphthong	Example of syllabication	Not a diphthong	Example of syllabication
Ai	Ai-re	Ae	Ca-er
Au	Aun-que	Ea	A-la-be-ar
Ay	Hay	Oa	An-cho-a
Ei	Trein-ta	Oe	Hé-ro-e
Eu	Eu-ro-pa
Ia	Di-stan-cia
Ie	Piel
Io	E-stu-dio
Iu	Viu-da
Oi	Sois
Oy	Soy
Ua	Cuan-do
Ue	Duer-mo
Ui	Fui-mos

There are more, but I can’t think of them right now.  There are also triphthongs (possibly not an English word…) which combine three letters in a row (usually a strong vowel sandwiched by two weak vowels, or vice versa) like continuéis. 

However, an accent mark can break a diphthong if it is over the weak vowel, as in the word oír.  Although it should be one syllable, the accent mark breaks the diphthong, creating two syllables. 

If the accent mark is over the strong vowel in a diphthong, there’s no problem.  In vivéis, the emphasis falls on the final syllable, but it’s still a monosyllable.

Okay… I think that’s everything.  Hopefully now you’ll be able to at least read the words correctly.  To make up for the fact that this post didn’t jump into present tense, I’ll post again a second time this week.

And hey, as promised, here are the answers from the homework. 

Hola, Señorita = Hello, Miss.

¿Cómo te llamas? = What is your name?

Me llamo Mike = I’m called Mike.

¿Dónde está el baño? = Where’s the bathroom? (PS, if you pronounce baño like that you don’t understand how to pronounce ah.)

Feliz cumpleaños = Happy Birthday.

¿Qué hora es? = What time is it?

Me gusta la biblioteca = I like the library.

Vivo en la casa roja = I live in the red house.

Yo tengo dos bicicletas = I have two bicycles.

Muchas gracias.  Sí, de nada = Many thanks.  Yes, you’re welcome.

¿Cuántos años tienes? = How old are you? (A dangerous question to be asking a woman whose name you don’t even know…)

Un momento, por favor = One moment, please.

Mi mama es bonita = My mom is beautiful.

Mi gato es muy blanco = My cat is very white.  (Again, that’s not how you say ah in blanco.)

Perdóneme = Excuse me/forgive me.  (By the way, when you learn command form you’ll learn that he’s changed from speaking to her in the familiar tú to the formal usted.)

And I think you can figure out the rest…

Now that I’ve sucked the fun out of that song, for homework this week you should practice saying ah, as in saw, not ah as in sand or bank.