The Fundamentals of Spanish Vowels

Spanish has 5 vowels: a, e, i, o and u. We even have y (known as i griega or “Greek i” in Spanish).

Students don’t utterly agree on whether or not y is a vowel or not, so relying on the supply, yow will discover it below the vowel checklist or listed individually as a semi-consonant. For the needs of this publish, we’ll deal with it as a vowel.

As you’ll be able to see (or hear), Spanish and English vowels are pronounced in another way. Even in phrases which can be written precisely the identical, they sound completely different in every language.

And in contrast to in English, Spanish vowels are all the time pronounced the very same means. This video from Butterfly Spanish may also help you excellent your pronunciation of Spanish vowels:

Suggestions for Saying Spanish Vowels

Native English audio system studying Spanish have a tendency to offer their “English contact” to Spanish vowels. Many instances they even change the sound utterly, making a non-existent phrase or producing one other Spanish phrase altogether.

Listed below are among the most vital issues to recollect with a view to enhance your pronunciation of Spanish vowels. 

1. All Spanish vowels are all the time pronounced the identical means.

It doesn’t matter if the syllable is careworn or not or if the vowel has an accent mark. The sound stays the identical.

Their size can also be all the time the identical, whether or not they seem originally or finish of a phrase, between consonants, earlier than a double consonant or wherever else within the phrase.

Hearken to the next phrases and pay particular consideration to the vowels. Attempt to repeat every phrase after the native speaker:

2. You could pronounce all of the vowels in a phrase.

And all of the letters besides h, for that matter. There are not any silent vowels in Spanish, besides within the case of the exception beneath. If there’s a vowel in a phrase, pronounce it:

3. Don’t “diphthongize” Spanish vowels.

As said in level one, every vowel has its personal distinctive sound, and it by no means modifications. Don’t add a distinct vowel sound to the top of a vowel. For instance:

4. At all times learn i as “ee.”

Pronounce it such as you would say the ee in “see.” That is true irrespective of how you’ll learn the phrase in English:

5. The vowel u all the time appears like “oo.”

That is much like the u in “brute.” By extension, the diphthong eu is all the time pronounced as “eh-oo.”

Saying Spanish Vowel Combos

Vowels don’t all the time seem by themselves between consonants. You’ll usually discover Spanish phrases which have two or three vowels collectively in a row. When two or extra vowels seem collectively, we get a diphthong, a triphthong or a hiatus. 

Spanish Vowel Diphthongs 

Merely put, a diphthong types when two vowels are mixed right into a single syllable. The sound begins on the primary vowel, after which progressively strikes towards the sound of the second vowel. Some examples in English may be discovered within the phrases “loud,” “foil,” “boy” and “say.”

Spanish diphthongs can solely be fashioned if we have now a minimum of one unaccented weak vowel (i or u) along with one other vowel. The pronunciation of the vowels in a diphthong isn’t completely different from the pronunciation of every vowel individually.

Diphthongs are available many types. Under you’ll discover an alphabetical checklist of Spanish diphthongs so you’ll be able to see them in motion. Apply saying them out loud and attempt to give you extra examples in case you can.

Spanish Vowel Triphthongs 

Now that we all know all of the potential diphthong mixtures in Spanish, let’s take a look at triphthongs. Triphthongs are fashioned when we have now three consecutive vowels in the identical syllable, if and provided that:

1. The 2 outer vowels are weak (i.e. i or u)

2. The central vowel is robust (i.e. a, e or o)

3. Not one of the weak vowels are accented

If these three guidelines are noticed, we have now a triphthong. Triphthongs are means much less frequent than diphthongs in Spanish, and though there’s a wide range of them, the identical small group tends to look extra usually than the remaining.

When announcing a triphthong, pronounce the three vowels so as of look, stressing the center one. Listed below are a number of examples: 

Spanish Vowel Hiatuses 

A hiatus is mainly the other of a diphthong and exists when two vowels are collectively however they belong to 2 separate syllables. Consecutive vowels may be in two syllables as a result of the vowels are each weak or sturdy, or as a result of the weak vowel is the careworn one within the phrase.