Pronunciation of Spanish Vowels

Spanish vowels, unlike their English equivalents, generally produce a single sound.

A - is pronounced like the “a” in father or the “o” in hop. (madre)

E - produces the “ay” sound in “pay” and is never silent as English words ending in “e”, such as “made” or “kite”. (mes)

I - is pronounced like the “ee” or “ea” sound in “keep” and “neat”. (libro)

O - Similar to the English pronunciation, the Spanish “o” sounds like the “oa” in “coat”, but a bit shorter. (cielo)

U - is generally pronounced as the “oo” in “broom” or the “u” in “flute” and never like the “u” in universe (pluma). However, the Spanish “u” becomes a silent vowel when following “q” (que) or when it is used in the “gui” or “gue” combination. (guitarra).

Y - is considered a vowel when it stands alone as the conjunction “y” or when it is used at the end of a word such as “rey”. Like the Spanish “i”, it makes the “ee” sound that you find in “beep”. When used at the end of a word, it often occurs as part of a dipthong as described in the following section, and produces a blended pronunciation.