The Everything Series Editors - The Everything European Travel Phrase Book

This chapter is by no means intended to replace formal Spanish instruction or a Spanish textbook. What it will give you is a basic understanding of Spanish pronunciation and grammar, to put the phrases you'll find later in the book into a framework. We hope that this basic introduction will serve you well as you explore the rest of this book. In the next chapter, we jump right into conversation. Buena suerte! Good luck!

A Guide to Pronunciation

Spanish isn't a difficult language to pronounce. Just remember to relax your mouth and use your lips. We don't really use our lips all that much in English, but you'll need them in Spanish, so don't be afraid to put them out there!

The great thing about Spanish pronunciation is that it sounds exactly the way it's spelled. In English, car and cat have two different vowel sounds in spite of their similar spellings. In Spanish, the letter a always represents one particular sound.

Even more conveniently, there are two simple rules that govern which syllable in any word is normally accented:

1. In words that end in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), s, or n, the stress normally falls on the second-to-last syllable. For example: mano (MAH-noh), hand; playas (PLAH-yahs), beaches; cantaban (kahn-TAH-bahn), they sang.

2. In words that end in any consonant except s or n, the stress normally falls on the last syllable. For example: verdad (vehr-DAHD), truth; azul (ah-SOOL), blue; luz (loos), light.

However, some words don't follow these two rules. To let the readers know how these words should be stressed in pronunciation, Spanish employs an acute accent mark ( ) over the vowel to indicate the stressed syllable. For example: lpiz (LAH-pees), pencil; mdico (MEH-dee-coh), doctor; msica (MOO-see-kah), music. The accent mark might also be used to differentiate two words with same spelling but different meaning: dnde (DOHN-deh), where (question word); donde (DOHN-deh), where (as a preposition).

The Pronunciation Guide chart will certainly help you with pronunciation, but nothing works as well as getting the sound of the language in your ear. To learn to pronounce Spanish words, listen to the spoken language. Listening to Spanish on TV, the radio, or the city bus will get your ear accustomed to the sounds, and you'll find it much easier to recreate them yourself.

Pronunciation Guide