Learning Guide

Phonetics Guide

Learn the sounds of Spanish with our comprehensive IPA guide. Understand how each phoneme is pronounced with real word examples.

27 IPA Sounds|43,031 examples

Syllable Rules Morphology

Vowels

Monophthong vowel sounds

/e/

Short "e" sound as in "bed"

8352

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/

/ɪ/

Short "i" sound as in "sit"

hormiguillasteis/oɾ.mi.ɣi.ˈʝa.steɪs/entrecomillaseis/en.tɾe.ko.mi.ˈʎa.seɪs/despanzurrasteis/des.pan.θuˈra.steis/

/ʊ/

Short "oo" sound as in "put"

precaucionabais/pɾe.kaʊ̯.θjo.na.βais/precautelasemos/pɾe.kaʊ̯.te.la.se.mos/precautelasteis/pɾe.kaʊ̯.te.las.teis/

Diphthongs

Gliding vowel sounds

/eɪ/

Long "a" sound as in "day"

hormiguillasteis/oɾ.mi.ɣi.ˈʝa.steɪs/entrecomillaseis/en.tɾe.ko.mi.ˈʎa.seɪs/despanzurrasteis/des.pan.θuˈra.steis/

/aʊ/

"ow" sound as in "now"

precaucionabais/pɾe.kaʊ̯.θjo.na.βais/precautelasemos/pɾe.kaʊ̯.te.la.se.mos/precautelasteis/pɾe.kaʊ̯.te.las.teis/

/aɪ/

Long "i" sound as in "my"

sobrexcitariais/soβɾe.eksitaˈɾjaɪ̯s/restableceriais/restaβleθeˈɾiaɪ̯s/

Consonants

Consonant sounds

/s/

Voiceless alveolar fricative

8048

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/descarretillareis/des.ka.re.ti.ʝa.ɾei̯s/descarretillareis/des.ka.re.ti.ʝa.ɾei̯s/

/t/

Voiceless alveolar plosive

4093

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/descarretillareis/des.ka.re.ti.ʝa.ɾei̯s/despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/

/n/

Alveolar nasal

3953

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/

/m/

Bilabial nasal

3729

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/achicharronariamos/atʃi.tʃa.ro.na.ɾja.mos/

/k/

Voiceless velar plosive

2004

descarretillareis/des.ka.re.ti.ʝa.ɾei̯s/descuacharrangada/des.kwa.tʃa.raŋˈɡa.ða/escachifollasteis/es.ka.t͡ʃi.fo.ˈʎas.teis/

/r/

Alveolar approximant

1924

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/

/p/

Voiceless bilabial plosive

1784

despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/despanchurrabamos/des.pan.tʃuˈra.βa.mos/despanchurraremos/des.pan.tʃuˈra.remos/

/l/

Alveolar lateral approximant

1770

deslechuguillados/des.le.t͡ʃu.ɣi.ʎa.ðos/deslechuguillaran/des.le.t͡ʃu.ɣi.ʎa.ɾan/deslechuguillaren/des.le.t͡ʃu.ɣi.ʎa.ˈɾen/

/j/

"y" sound as in "yes"

1603

achicharronariamos/atʃi.tʃa.ro.na.ɾja.mos/emberrenchinarais/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ɾajs/embochinchariamos/em.bo.t͡ʃin.t͡ʃa.ˈɾja.mos/

/θ/

Voiceless dental fricative (th as in "think")

1468

villavicenciunos/biʎaβiθenˈθjunos/villavicenciunos/biʎaβiθenˈθjunos/vicecancillerias/bi.se.kan.θi.ˈʎe.ɾi.as/

/d/

Voiced alveolar plosive

1163

descarretillareis/des.ka.re.ti.ʝa.ɾei̯s/despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/deslechuguillados/des.le.t͡ʃu.ɣi.ʎa.ðos/

/ð/

Voiced dental fricative (th as in "this")

737

deslechuguillados/des.le.t͡ʃu.ɣi.ʎa.ðos/descuacharrangada/des.kwa.tʃa.raŋˈɡa.ða/subdesarrolladas/sub.de.sa.ro.ʎo.ˈʎa.ðas/

/b/

Voiced bilabial plosive

625

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/emberrenchinaseis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃa.na.ˈse.is/emberrenchinarais/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ɾajs/

/ʃ/

"sh" sound as in "she"

610

emberrenchinareis/em.ber.ren.t͡ʃi.na.ˈreis/despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/deslechuguillados/des.le.t͡ʃu.ɣi.ʎa.ðos/

/f/

Voiceless labiodental fricative

565

escachifollasteis/es.ka.t͡ʃi.fo.ˈʎas.teis/escachifollariais/es.ka.t͡ʃi.fo.ʎa.ˈɾja.is/escachifollasemos/es.ka.t͡ʃi.fo.ʎa.ˈse.mos/

/tʃ/

"ch" sound as in "church"

204

despanchurrasemos/des.pan.tʃu.ra.ˈra.mos/descuacharrangada/des.kwa.tʃa.raŋˈɡa.ða/achicharronariamos/atʃi.tʃa.ro.na.ɾja.mos/

/w/

"w" sound as in "we"

166

descuacharrangada/des.kwa.tʃa.raŋˈɡa.ða/descuacharrangado/des.kwa.t͡ʃa.ˈraŋ.ɡa.ðo/parroquialidades/pa.ro.kja.liˈða.ðes/

/ŋ/

"ng" sound as in "sing"

162

descuacharrangada/des.kwa.tʃa.raŋˈɡa.ða/descuacharrangado/des.kwa.t͡ʃa.ˈraŋ.ɡa.ðo/emberrinchariamos/em.be.riŋ.t͡ʃa.ɾi.a.mos/

/z/

Voiced alveolar fricative

ultramontanismo/ul.tɾa.mon.ta.ni.zmo/ferromagnetismos/fe.ro.ma.ɣneˈti.zmos/sadomasoquismos/sado.ma.so.kiˈzmos/

/g/

Voiced velar plosive

guillotinariamos/giʎoti.na.ˈɾja.mos/sanguinolencias/sangwi.noˈlen.θjas/

/ʒ/

"zh" sound as in "measure"

escabullimientos/es.ka.βu.ʎi.ˈmjen.tos/ or /es.ka.βu.ʝi.ˈmjen.tos/ or /es.ka.βu.ʒi.ˈmjen.tos/amarillecieremos/amaɾiʎeθjeˈɾemos/

Common Patterns

Frequent phonetic patterns

starts with "tr"413 words

trastabillariais trastabillasemos trastrabillarian

starts with "pr"299 words

prerromanticismo proyeccionistas prudencialmente

starts with "pl"21 words

plantificaremos plantificasemos plantificabamos