Lesson 2: The Spanish Alphabet – El alfabeto español (Traditional Version)

🎯 Goal

Understand the Spanish alphabet, pronunciation rules, and how letters differ from English — including the traditional 30-letter format.

🧠 Why You Need This

Knowing the alphabet helps you pronounce words correctly, spell names, and recognize sounds you’ll see in every Spanish word going forward.

🔠 1. Overview

The traditional Spanish alphabet consists of 30 letters. It includes the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, plus ch, ll, ñ, and rr, which were once officially considered separate letters. Each letter has its own name and pronunciation, and some letters have different sounds depending on their position or surrounding letters.

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🔤 2. Spanish Alphabet (30 Letters – Traditional Order)

A a – a (ah)  
B b – be (beh)  
C c – ce (seh)  
CH ch – che (cheh)  
D d – de (deh)  
E e – e (eh)  
F f – efe (eh-feh)  
G g – ge (heh)  
H h – hache (ah-cheh)  
I i – i (ee)  
J j – jota (ho-tah)  
K k – ka (kah)  
L l – ele (eh-leh)  
LL ll – elle (eh-yeh)  
M m – eme (eh-meh)  
N n – ene (eh-neh)  
Ñ ñ – eñe (eh-nyeh)  
O o – o (oh)  
P p – pe (peh)  
Q q – cu (koo)  
R r – ere (eh-reh)  
RR rr – erre (eh-rreh)  
S s – ese (eh-seh)  
T t – te (teh)  
U u – u (oo)  
V v – ve (beh) or uve (oo-beh)  
W w – doble ve (doh-bleh beh) or uve doble (oo-beh doh-bleh)  
X x – equis (eh-kees)  
Y y – i griega (ee gree-eh-gah) or ye (yeh)  
Z z – zeta (seh-tah)

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🧠 3. Special Pronunciation Notes

C

• Before a, o, u → like “k”: casa [kah-sah]

• Before e, i → like “s” in Latin America: cero [seh-roh]
  In Spain: like “th”: cero [theh-roh]

CH

• Pronounced like English "ch" in chocolate or cheese: chico [chee-koh]

• ✅ Always one sound, never split.

G

• Before a, o, u → hard “g”: gato [gah-toh]

• Before e, i → soft “h” sound: gente [hen-teh]

H

• Always silent: hola [oh-lah]

J

• Strong "h" sound: jamón [hah-mohn]

LL

• Pronounced like “y”: llave [yah-beh]
  In some regions, it's pronounced like “zh” (as in measure)

Ñ

• Like “ny” in canyon: niño [nee-nyoh]

Q

• Always followed by u, sounds like “k”: queso [keh-soh]

R

• Single "r" (ere) in the middle of words: pero [peh-roh]

RR

• Rolled "r" (erre) at the beginning of words or between vowels: carro [kah-rroh], rojo [rroh-ho]

V

• Pronounced like “b”: vaca [bah-kah]

Y

• As consonant → “y”: yo [yoh]

• As vowel → “ee”: y [ee] (means “and”)

Z

• Latin America: like “s”: zapato [sah-pah-toh]

• Spain: like “th”: zapato [thah-pah-toh]

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📚 4. Examples by Letter

Letter	Word	Meaning
A	avión	airplane
B	beso	kiss
C	casa / cero	house / zero
CH	chico	boy
D	día	day
E	estrella	star
F	familia	family
G	gato / gente	cat / people
H	hola	hello
I	isla	island
J	jirafa	giraffe
K	kilo	kilo
L	luna	moon
LL	llave	key
M	mano	hand
N	noche	night
Ñ	mañana	morning/tomorrow
O	oso	bear
P	perro	dog
Q	queso	cheese
R	rosa	rose
RR	carro	car
S	sol	sun
T	tigre	tiger
U	uva	grape
V	vaca	cow
W	whisky	whiskey
X	xilófono	xylophone
Y	yate	yacht
Z	zapato	shoe

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📝 5. Practice Time

Try spelling your name or favorite Spanish word using the Spanish letter names.

📌 Example:
Name: María → M (eme), A (a), R (ere), Í (i), A (a)
Word: queso → Q (cu), U (u), E (e), S (ese), O (o)

You can also try saying each letter out loud to get used to their sounds.