Every distinct sound in Spanish, grouped by family. Tap the speaker on a phoneme to hear it pronounced inside its headline word, then tap any of the three demonstrator words below it to hear the same sound in a different context.
Vowels
Simple vowels
-
/a/
Letters: a
- mano
- gato
- pan
-
/e/
Letters: e
- peso
- leche
- tener
-
/i/
Letters: i
- piso
- mira
- tipo
-
/o/
Letters: o
- poco
- ropa
- lobo
-
/u/
Letters: u
- luna
- nube
- fruta
Diphthongs
-
/je/
Letters: ie (e.g. tierra, siete, bien)
- siete
- bien
- tiempo
-
/we/
Letters: ue (e.g. hueso, fuera, bueno)
- bueno
- fuego
- puerta
-
/ai/
Letters: ai
- baile
- caigo
- paisaje
-
/ei/
Letters: ei
- peine
- aceite
- veinte
-
/oi/
Letters: oi
- boina
- paranoico
- heroico
-
/au/
Letters: au
- aula
- pausa
- causa
Consonants
Plosives
-
/p/
Letters: p
- poco
- sopa
- mapa
-
/b/
Letters: b
- boca
- bebé
- abuelo
-
/t/
Letters: t
- tarde
- tomate
- pato
-
/d/
Letters: d
- dado
- duda
- nido
-
/k/
Letters: k
- koala
- karaoke
- kiosco
-
/g/
Letters: g
- goma
- gafas
- amigo
Fricatives
-
/f/
Letters: f
- familia
- café
- fácil
-
/θ/
Letters: c (before e/i, e.g. cero, cinco), z (e.g. zapato, lazo) — Castilian Spanish only
- cinco
- zapato
- lazo
-
/s/
Letters: s
- sopa
- casa
- mesa
-
/x/
Letters: j (e.g. jamón, mujer, ojo), g (before e/i, e.g. gente, gitano)
- jardín
- joven
- gente
-
/ʝ/
Letters: y (e.g. yo, ya, mayo), ll (in many dialects, e.g. llave, calle)
- ya
- yema
- llave
-
/β/
Letters: b, v (between vowels or after non-nasal consonant, e.g. lobo, haBer, aVer) — allophone of /b/
- uva
- saber
- lavar
-
/ð/
Letters: d (between vowels or after non-nasal/non-lateral, e.g. todo, Madrid, lado) — allophone of /d/
- lado
- dedo
- Madrid
-
/ɣ/
Letters: g (between vowels, e.g. agua, lago, hago) — allophone of /g/
- lago
- hago
- amigo
Nasals
-
/m/
Letters: m
- mesa
- cama
- tomate
-
/n/
Letters: n
- mano
- tener
- vino
-
/ɲ/
Letters: ñ (e.g. año, niña, España, mañana)
- niña
- España
- mañana
Laterals
-
/l/
Letters: l
- luna
- pelo
- sal
-
/ʎ/
Letters: ll (in dialects without yeísmo, e.g. llave, calle) — merged with /ʝ/ in most modern Spanish
- calle
- llama
- lleno
Trills and flaps
-
/ɾ/
Letters: r (simple)
- pero
- mira
- oro
-
/r/
Letters: rr (multiple)
- carro
- tierra
- correo
Semiconsonants
Semiconsonants
-
/j/
Letters: i in diphthongs ia/ie/io/iu (e.g. tierra, viento, miel); also y in some uses
- viento
- miel
- bien
-
/w/
Letters: u (in diphthongs ua/ue/ui/uo, e.g. agua, hueso, ruido, antiguo); also w in loanwords
- hueso
- ruido
- bueno
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