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🇪🇸 Spanish for Beginners · Lesson 1 of 8

Pronunciation and letters

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Five pure vowels, ñ, ll, j, silent h and rolled rr.

Five vowels, always the same

aah — like “father”: casa
eeh — like “bet”: mesa
iee — like “see”: sí
ooh — short, like “go” without the w: no
uoo — like “food”: uno

Letters that differ from English

hAlways silent: hola = OH-lah
jA raspy h: jugo = HOO-go
llLike y in “yes”: llamar = yah-MAR
ñLike ny in “canyon”: niño = NEE-nyo
rrA rolled, trilled r: perro
zLike s (in Latin America): zapato
quLike k: queso = KEH-so

Where is the stress?

Words ending in a vowel, n or s: stress the second-to-last syllable (CA-sa, HA-blan). Other words: stress the last syllable (ha-BLAR, re-LOJ). An accent mark shows an exception: ca-FÉ, ár-bol.

Tip

💡 Keep vowels short and pure. English speakers tend to glide “no” into “now-oo”. In Spanish it’s just “no”.

✏️ Practice: your turn

  1. Say the five vowels out loud: a, e, i, o, u
  2. Read: hola, jugo, llama, niño, perro, queso
  3. Mark the stressed syllable in: casa, hablar, café, árbol
  4. Practice rolling the r: perro, carro, arriba

🧠 Quick quiz

Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.

1. How do you say “hola”?
2. What sound does ñ make?
3. “ll” in “llama” sounds like…
4. Which word has the stress on the last syllable?

0 of 4 correct

All lessons in Spanish for Beginners

  1. 🗣️ 1. Pronunciation and lettersFive pure vowels, ñ, ll, j, silent h and rolled rr
  2. 👋 2. Hello, how are you?Greetings, introductions and ¿Cómo te llamas?
  3. 🔢 3. Numbers and colorsNumbers 0–20 and ten colors
  4. 👨‍👩‍👧 4. Family and peopleMom, dad, siblings, el and la, and plurals
  5. 🌮 5. Food, café and restaurantOrder, ask and get the check
  6. ⚖️ 6. ser, estar and tenerTwo ways to say “to be”, and “to have”
  7. ⏰ 7. Days, time and weather¿Qué hora es?, ¿Dónde está…? and question words
  8. 🧳 8. 50 travel phrases, and what’s nextThe phrases that save a trip, and how to keep learning