HABLAMETODO

3.6 PRONUNCIACIÓN Y ORTOGRAFÍA / PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING – SAMPLE

LAS VOCALES DEL ESPAÑOL / SPANISH VOWELS

There are five vowels in Spanish:

a
e
i
o
u

triángulo vocálico

  • Spanish vowels are either open (a/o/e) or close (i/u).
  • There are two anterior vowels (pronounced in the front part of the mouth): e/i
  • Two posterior vowels (pronounced in the back of the mouth): o/u
  • And one middle vowel (pronounced in the center of the mouth): a

There are no long or short vowels. Spanish vowels are pronounced clearly and always sound the same (whether at the beginning, middle or end of a word). Compare the pronunciation of the word patatas:

 Non-native student: patatas
Native: patatas

Listen to and repeat the following words, making sure to pronounce all the vowels correctly:

patatas

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

chocolate

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

restaurante

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

bocadillo

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

hamburguesa

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

ATTENTION: The letter y is pronounced [i] at the end of many verbs: estoy, voy, soy…

Correctly pronounce the vowels at the end of words. Many words end in –o for the masculine form and –a for the feminine:

Listen to and repeat the following words, making sure to pronounce the final vowels correctly.
amigo ~ amiga

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

hijo ~ hija

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

abuelo ~ abuela

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

chico ~ chica

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

The final vowel of many verbs changes:

  • yo como ~ él come
  • yo canto ~ ella canta

Repeat the above verbs, correctly pronouncing the final vowels.

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

DIPTONGO / DIPTHONGS

A dipthong is the combination of an open (a/e/o) and a close (i/u) vowel within the same syllable:

Hasta luego has-ta-lue-go

Repeat and practice the above words.

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

Buenas tardes bue-nas-tar-des

Repeat and practice the above words.

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

Adiós a-diós a-diós

Repeat and practice the above words.

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

Muchas gracias mu-chas-gra-cias

Repeat and practice the above words.

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

Estoy es-toy

Repeat and practice the above words.

Now record your voice in an audio note and check your pronunciation.

Actividades / Exercises
Actividad / Exercise anterior
Volver a Unidad / Unit
Siguiente Actividad / Exercise