Vowels, or vocales (voh-CAH-lehs), are letters representing sounds that are generated in the vocal chords and can, on their own, form a syllable, or sílaba (SEE-lah-bah). Spanish vowels, when not accompanied by another vowel, have only one characteristic pronunciation, whereas their English counterparts have in excess of three. If you've mastered the fifteen-plus vowel sounds in English, you'll have no trouble with the five vowel sounds in Spanish.

Each of the five vowels may be placed in one of two categories: abierta (ah-BYEHR-tah, “open”) or cerrada (seh-RRAH-dah, “closed”). The “openness” or “closedness” of a vowel is determined by the extent to which you must open your mouth: a, e, and o are considered vocales abiertas, whereas i and u are described as vocales cerradas. A vocal abierta may also be described as fuerte (FWEHR-teh, “strong”) and a vocal cerrada as débil (DEH-beel, “weak”).

The Vowel A

The first letra (letter) of el abecedario is a vocal abierta. When saying it, your mouth is widely open and the distance between the palate and the tongue is at its greatest. You use the sound of a every day: What do you say when after a long day's work you can finally sit down and put up your feet? Or when you go to the doctor and he asks you to open your mouth as he peers inside? Exactly! You say “ahhhhhhh.” Now just skip the six extra h's and you have the Spanish letter a.

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel A

Spanish English ajo garlic altar altar América America árbol tree clavo nail fruta fruit

True to its abierta vowel category, a does not combine to form diphthongs with its sister letters e and o, but it does combine with las vocales cerradas. That is, when a is immediately in front of an unaccented i or a u, the sound that is produced is neither a pure a, the dominant vowel in this case, nor a pure i or u, the subordinate vowels within the combination. As a result, the ai sound is not “ah-ee” but rather “i” as in “tie.” The au resembles the “ahw” combination in “ouch.”

What happens if the unaccented i or u precedes the a? Listen to Track 3 and try repeating the words you hear.

Practice Pronunciation of Diphthongs AI and AU

Spanish English ausente absent aire air audaz bold auto automobile baile dance traicionero traitor

You've just seen how the i and the u kowtow to the stronger a, but what if another vocal fuerte challenges a? Well nothing, really. Each vowel keeps its own sound and is pronounced.

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel Combinations AE and AO

Spanish English aéreo aerial atraer to attract caer to fall caos chaos maestro teacher paella Spanish rice dish

The Vowel E

E is the fifth letter of the alphabet, also a vocal fuerte. Pronounce it between the palate and the tongue by opening your mouth halfway. The letter e alone has the sound “eh” as in “get,” and does not sound at all like the “ay” in “say,” or “e” in “hyphen,” “gene,” “been,” or “terse.”

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel E

Spanish English crecer to grow estar to be (located) hacer to do joven young nacer to be born necesito I need

As a vocal fuerte, e keeps its own sound when combining with other vocales fuertes. Practice pronouncing words with ea, ee, and eo as you listen to Track 6.

Practice Pronunciation of Combinations EA, EE, and EO

Spanish English crear to create creer to believe deseo desire, wish peaje toll peor worse reaccionar to react reanudar to renew

Practice Pronunciation of Words That Begin with Es-

Spanish English esbelto proportioned esbozo first draft escala scale escultura sculpture especial special estilo style

Remember, a vocal fuerte forms diphthongs only with vocales débiles. When e is immediately followed by an unaccented i or u, the sound produced is a blend—the ei sound becomes “ey” as in “haystack” the eu generally resembles “ehw” (unless the u is accented or naturally stressed within the word). To practice diphthongs eu and ei, review the following table and listen to Track 8.

Practice Pronunciation of Diphthongs EU and EI

Spanish English afeitar to shave euforia euphoria europeo European neumático tire reino kingdom treinta thirty

When the positions are reversed, that is, when an unaccented i or u is immediately followed by an e, the sounds that are produced are both expected and surprising. As with the letter a, the i takes on a sound similar to “y” within the ie combination, like in the English word “yet.” The ue combination is a little trickier to get right away because it can have two possible, mutually exclusive pronunciations. In many words, ue will have the “weh” sound as in the English word “wet.” To practice ie and ue, listen to Track 9.

Practice Pronunciation of Combinations IE and UE

Spanish English cuento story duelo sorrow mientras while muebles furniture pueblo town, village riesgo risk sediento thirsty siempre always

In some cases, the u in the ue combination is muda (mute), and the diphthong is pronounced as e. The u becomes silent when ue is preceded by a g or a q.

Practice Pronunciation of Vowels UE Preceded by G or Q

Spanish English descargue an unloading guedeja lion's mane guerra war pagué I paid parque a park quemar to burn queso cheese relampagueo lightning flash

The Vowel I

The i is a vocal cerrada and is spoken through the smallest opening between the palate and the tongue. When unaccompanied by other vowels, i most resembles the “ee” sound in the word “machine.” It is never pronounced as the English letter “i” in “mint,” “edible,” or “site.”

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel I

Spanish English avenida avenue bistec (beef) steak cita appointment fácil easy gentil courteous marido husband

Remember that when followed by other vowels, the i is usually a weak part of the diphthong, and is not sounded out. To practice the combinations ia, ie, io, and iu, listen to and repeat after Track 12.

Practice Pronunciation of IA, IE, IO, and IU

Spanish English ciego blind cielo sky desperdiciar to waste hierro iron idioma language pie foot piedad pity, mercy viuda widow

However, if the i is accented (í), it is pronounced as “ee” even though it may precede or follow another vowel.

Practice Pronunciation of Í with Another Vowel

Spanish English caída fall día day freír to fry frío cold lío mess maíz corn oír to hear país country panadería bakery reír to laugh

In ui combinations, as in the ue combinations, the u is silent when it is preceded by a g or a q. That is, the ui combination sounds like i.

Practice Pronunciation of UI Preceded by G or Q

Spanish English Arequipa a city in Peru guiñar to wink guisado stew guitarra guitar quiero I want quitar to take away siguiente following siquiera at least

The Vowel O

The last of the vocales fuertes is o, a vowel spoken through a medium- sized opening between the palate and the tongue. O has the sound “oh,” similar to but actually shorter than the “o” in the English word “toll.”

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel O

Spanish English olor smell olvidar to forget oreja exterior ear oro gold operar to operate ojo eye oler to smell golpe blow, hit mozo waiter mortal fatal

Combinations with o follow the same rules as other vocales abiertas and vocales cerradas with an accent, with the one exception being the ou combination.

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel O with Other Vowels

Spanish English alcohol alcohol cohibir to inhibit coincidir to coincide oasis oasis oigo I hear poema poem roedor rodent toalla towel zoológico zoo

The Vowel U

The last of the Spanish vowel is a vocal débil and is spoken through a small-to-medium opening between the palate and the tongue. The u often adopts the “oo” sound as in “too.”

Practice Pronunciation of Vowel U

Spanish English blusa blouse curso course dulce sweet luna moon menú menu nube cloud unir to unite uña fingernail usar to use útil useful

You've already seen many different u combinations. In general, an unaccented u in combination with other vocales takes on a sonido (sound) similar to the English “w.”

One exception to the rule is that u is mute in the following combinations: gue, gui, que, and qui. However, there are a few words where the u in the diphthong is NOT mute. To indicate that the u should be pronounced, a diéresis (“) is added over it (ü). Listen to Track 18 to compare pronunciations of gue and gui with güe and güi. Note that qüe and qüi do not exist in Spanish.

Practice Pronunciation of CU, GU, GÜ, HU, and QU

Spanish English antiguo old averiguar to inquire cigüeña stork cuidar to care for huevo egg desagüe drain huir to flee máquina machine quedar to stay bilingüe bilingual quien who pingüino penguin

Similarly, if naturally stressed or accented within a word, u keeps its “oo” sound.

Practice Pronunciation of Accented Vowel U

Spanish English ataúd coffin baúl chest or trunk grúa crane laúd lute

Congratulations! You've just finished the vowels. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed, don't worry. Just take a break and remind yourself that learning a language takes time. You'll begin to feel more comfortable as you continue.