The first step before you learn to read and write the Spanish language is to master the Spanish Alphabet. The word Alphabet is called El Alfabeto in Spanish. The Spanish alphabet is also called El Abecedario which is a combined word from the first three alphabets in Spanish, it’s like saying ABC in English.
There are 27 letters in Spanish Alphabet, the 26 letters are the same as the ones we use in English, with an additional letter ñ.
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
Out of the 27 letters, we have 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u), and 22 consonants.
Other than these 27 Spanish Alphabet, there are three additional alphabets in Spanish, which are called digraphs, and these are -ch, -ll, and -rr.
Here’s a table of Spanish Alphabet. The first column of the table lists the letters of the Spanish Alphabet, the second column describes its name in Spanish and how to pronounce it in English in the brackets. These names are very useful as people will always use them when trying to spell a word. The next column describes how this word can be pronounced, and finally, the last column lists a few Spanish words that use the alphabet with their meaning in English.
Spanish Alphabet Table
| Letter | Spanish Name (How to say it) | Pronunciation Hint | Spanish Example (Meaning in English) |
| A, a | a (ah) | Like a in Father | Amarillo (Yellow) |
| B, b | be (bay) | A soft b, a bit like English V | Baño (Bath) |
| C, c | ce (say) | Before e, i, like S in Sarah Everywhere else, its like C in Cat | Casa (Home) Cine (Theater) |
| CH, ch | che (chay) | Like ch in Chunk | Leche (Milk) |
| D, d | de (day) | If the word starts with it, or before L,M or N, its like D in Dog. Everywhere else, its like th in the | Dedo (Finger) |
| E, e | e (ay) | Like ay in may | Enero (January) |
| F, f | efe (ayfay) | Just like English f | Falda (Skirt) |
| G, g | ge (hay) | Like H if before E and I Like G in Get if its before A, O, U, or other letters | Gato (Cat) |
| H, h | hache (ahchay) | Always silent | Hombre (Man) |
| I, i | i (ee) | Like ee in beep | Iniciar (To Start) |
| J, j | jota (hota) | Just like English h | Joven (Young) |
| K, k | ka (kah) | Just like English k | Kilo (Kilo) |
| L, l | ele (aylay) | Just like English l | Labio (Lip) |
| LL, ll | elle (ayyay) | Like y in Yes | Bello (Beautiful) |
| M, m | eme (aymay) | Just like English m | Cama (Bed) |
| N, n | ene (aynay) | Just like English n | Nada (Nothing) |
| ñ, ñ | eñe (annyay) | like the ny in “canyon” | Niño (Child) |
| O, o | o (oh) | Like o in no | Oso (Bear) |
| P, p | pe (pay) | Just like English p | Pobre (Poor) |
| Q, q | cu (koo) | Like English k | Queso (Cheese) |
| R, r | ere (ayray) | Soft English r, almost near d | Pero (But) |
| rr, rr | erre (ayrray) | Like English R with a trill | Perro (Dog) |
| S, s | ese (aysay) | Just like English s | Sal (Salt) |
| T, t | te (tay) | Just like English t | Torta (Cake) |
| U, u | u (oo) | Like oo in pool | Uno (One) |
| V, v | ve (oovay) | Same as pronunciation of b | |
| W, w | ve doble (oovay dobly or dobleuu) | Just like English w | Wifi (Wifi) |
| X, x | equis (aykees) | Just like English x | Taxi (Taxi) |
| Y, y | i griega (yay) | Just like English y Except when alone, then its like ee in tree | Yo (I) |
| Z, z | zeta (sayta) | Just like English s | Zorro (Fox) |
Pronunciation, Stress and Accent Marks in Spanish Words
If a word ends in a vowel, a, e, i, o, u or n or s, then the second to last syllable of the word is stressed. For example, hablo, mañana etc.
If the words ends in a consonant, other then n or s, then its final syllable is stressed. For example, mujer, azul etc.
There are some words in Spanish that do not follow the above two rules. In those words, an accent mark is added on the syllable that is stressed. For example, café, leccíon etc.
Some one or two syllable words in Spanish have accent mark on them to indicate that there are other words with same spelling and same pronunciation but different meaning. Here’s a table with the examples of some of these words,
| tu | your | tú | you |
| si | if | sí | yes |
| el | the | él | he |
| se | oneself | sé | I know |
| ese | that | ése | that one |
| este | this | éste | this one |
If a word has g preceding u, followed by a vowel, then its written as ü, and its pronounced as an English w. For example, guapo, guasón etc.
Question words in Spanish, like, ¿qué?, have accent marks but it doesn’t affect their pronunciation.
Spanish words are pronounced exactly they are spelled. There are no exceptions or silent letters like English. You need to pronounce each syllable distinctly. So, once you master the Spanish alphabet and pronunciation table, and stress rules, you can pronounce almost any Spanish word correctly.