Sounds and spelling

1. Say the five vowels short and pure

   Each vowel keeps one sound whatever the word: a as in cat (casa), e as in pet (mesa), i as in machine (libro), o as in hot (todo) and u as in rule (uno). They never glide into another sound the way the o in go does. The only silent vowel is the u in que, qui, gue and gui.

2. Know the sounds of c, z and qu

   C before a, o or u is a k sound (casa, cosa, cultura), and cu before another vowel is kw (cuatro). Before e or i, c is the th of think in Spain (cena, cine), and z always is (zapato, azul). For a k sound before e or i, Spanish writes qu: quiero, pequeño.

3. Know the sounds of g, gu and j

   G before a, o or u is hard, as in go (gato, gordo, gustar). Before e or i it is the throaty sound of j (gente, gimnasio), which j has everywhere (jugar, joven). To keep a hard g before e or i, Spanish adds a silent u: guitarra, hamburguesa.

4. Know ll, ch, ñ and v

   Ll sounds like the y in yes (llamar, calle). Ch is as in church (chico), and ñ is the ny of canyon (niño, España). V and b sound exactly alike, like an English b that softens between vowels, so vaso and beso begin with the same sound: learn which spelling each word takes.

5. Tap the single r and roll the rr

   A single r between vowels or at the end of a word is one quick tap of the tongue: pero, hablar. Rr is a strong roll (perro, correr), and so is an r at the start of a word or after n, l or s (rojo, regalo, Enrique). Pero means but and perro means dog, so the roll matters.

6. Never pronounce the h

   H is always silent: hola begins with the o sound, and hay sounds like the English eye. It is still written, so learn words like hacer, hermano and ahora by sight. The only time an h makes a sound is as part of ch.

7. Know which syllable takes the stressHigher only

   With no written accent, a word ending in a vowel, n or s is stressed on its second-to-last syllable (casa, hablan, zapatos), and a word ending in any other consonant on its last (hablar, ciudad, reloj). A written accent overrides the rule: stress the vowel that carries it (café, música).

8. Write an accent when the stress breaks the ruleHigher only

   Write an accent on the stressed vowel when a word ending in a vowel, n or s is stressed on its last syllable (café, jamón, francés), and when a word ending in another consonant is stressed on its second-to-last (árbol, fácil). Every word stressed on its third-to-last syllable takes one (música, sábado, teléfono). A one-syllable word needs none (tres, pan) unless the accent tells two words apart (sí, si).

Sound-symbol correspondence

The link between a letter or group of letters and the sound it makes, such as ñ and the ny sound. They are tested in reading aloud and in the dictation.

Pure vowel

A vowel said with one steady sound that never glides into another, which is how all five Spanish vowels are said.

Silent h

The h is never pronounced in Spanish, so hola begins with the o sound. It is still written, so learn it by sight.

Hard and soft g

Before a, o and u, g is hard as in go (gato); before e and i it is the throaty sound of j (gente).

Qu and gu

Spellings with a silent u that keep a k sound (quiero) or a hard g sound (guitarra) before e and i.

Rr

The rolled r, a strong trill of the tongue, as in perro. A single r at the start of a word, as in rojo, is rolled too.

StressHigher only

The syllable said most strongly in a word. In hablo it falls on the first, in habló on the last, and they mean I speak and he spoke.

Penultimate syllableHigher only

The second-to-last syllable. A word ending in a vowel, n or s is stressed there unless an accent says otherwise, as in joven and casas.

Antepenultimate syllableHigher only

The third-to-last syllable. A word stressed there always has a written accent, as in sábado and música.

• Sounding the h at the start of words like hola and hermano.

  The Spanish h is always silent, so hola begins with the o sound. Read the word as if the h were not there, but keep it when you write.

• Reading ll as an English l, so me llamo loses its y sound.

  The double l is one sound, like the y in yes. Practise calle, pollo and lluvia aloud until it comes without thinking.

• Tapping a single r where the word needs rr, so perro (dog) comes out as pero (but).

  The roll changes the meaning. Roll every rr and every r at the start of a word (rojo), and keep the single r between vowels to one quick tap.

• Saying g before e or i as a hard g, so gente starts like the English get.

  Before e and i, g has the throaty sound of j: gente, gimnasio, general. Only gue and gui keep the hard g.

• Putting a written accent on every stressed vowel, or leaving it off words like jamón and música.Higher only

  Write an accent where the stress breaks the rule: last-syllable stress on a word ending in a vowel, n or s, second-to-last stress on a word ending in another consonant, or third-to-last stress. Hablar and casa need none. Other accents tell two words apart (tú and tu, qué in a question): learn those by sight.

More Listening topics

• Listening comprehension
• Dictation
• The present tense
• Irregular and stem-changing verbs
• Ser, estar and tener
• Reflexive verbs

Keep reading

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• The GCSE Spanish syllabus, explained