LEARNING BASIC

SPANISH:
A Simple Study Guide Part 1
GENERAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE/S:

At the end of this module, the students must be able to:

 Discuss the origin of Spanish language;

 Familiarize basic greetings and vocabularies;
 Demonstrate proper pronunciation of Spanish alphabet;
and
 Apply the rules in accentuation when speaking Spanish
words.
INTRODUCTION

The Spanish language, known as either español or

castellano, developed in the Iberian Peninsula in the region
of Castile, or Castilla in Spanish.
According to the United Nations, Spanish is the third
most-spoken language in the world, after Mandarin
Chinese and English. (Bill Worden, 2015)
THE BASIC SOUNDS OF SPANISH

THERE are differences that distinguish how Spanish is

spoken in one place versus another and these are:
vocabulary, accent, and grammar. (Bill Worden, 2015)
SPANISH ALPHABET

There are various ways to pronounce Spanish

alphabet like that of Castillian (known as the formal
Spanish) and Latin American.
The current Spanish alphabet is made up of the 27
letters. (ch and ll are no longer counted as letters)
VOWELS
A
 As a in father
 Pan – bread
 Hablar – to speak
 Casa – house
 Madre – mother
 Papel - paper
 VOWELS
E
As a in bake when at the end of a
syllable As e in bet when in a closed syllable
Example: (syllable ends in a consonant)
 De – of, from Example:
 Padre – father  Usted – you
 Sentir – to feel
 Verdad – truth
 Decir – to say
 VOWELS

I (Y)
 As i in laughing, machine
 Ir – to go
 Libre – free, at
liberty
 Ficción - fiction
 VOWELS

O  Señora – woman, lady

As o in obey when at the
end of a syllable
 Ojo – eye
 Malo – bad, evil
 Mano – hand
 VOWELS

O  Contra – against
As ou in wrought,  Consejo - council
brought when in a closed
syllable
 Señor – man
 Sombrero – hat
 VOWELS

U
 As oo in tool
 Mucho – much
 Nunca – never
 Buscar – to look for
 Un(a) - one
 CONSONANTS
B  Not as forcefully as in English
 Softly with lips touching but a except as b in bond when the
little air passing between them. initial letter in a word or after n
Ex. Trabajar and m
Beber – to drink
Bastante – enough
También – also, too
 CONSONANTS

C
 c before i and e like English th in "think" (in Latin America
it is like English s)
 c before a, o, u and other consonants, like English k
 The same sound for e and i is written like que and qui,
where the u is silent.
 ch like ch in “cheese”
 CONSONANTS

D
 d at the start of a word and after n, like English d in
"under"
 d between vowels (even if these vowels belong to different
words) similar to English th in "mother" (IPA: /ð/); at the
end of words like "universidad" you may hear a similar
sound, too.
 CONSONANTS

G
 g before e or i like the Dutch g
 g before a, o, u, like g in “get”
 CONSONANTS

 h is always silent (except in the digraph ch)

 j like the h in hotel, or like the Scottish pronunciation of ch
in "loch" .
 ll in Castillian, it is pronounced as lli in million and William
or as English y in “yes” (Latin American).
 ñ like nio in “onion” (or gn in French cognac).
 q like the English k; occurs only before ue or ui.
 CONSONANTS
 r at the beginning of a word; after l, n, or s; or when doubled
(rr), it is pronounced as a full trill, elsewhere it is a single-tap
trill.
 v is pronounced like b, there is no distinction whatsoever
between B and V.
 x is pronounced much like an English x, except a little more
softly, and often more like gs.
 z is like the English th (Castillian) and in Latin America, like the
English s
 LATIN AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION RULES
THAT DIFFER FROM CASTILLIAN

Ll is usually pronounced as y in yes

Caballo – horse
Amarillo – yellow
 LATIN AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION RULES
THAT DIFFER FROM CASTILLIAN

The final d is many times not pronounced

Madrid – Madrid
Sed – thirst, drought
Verdad – truth
 LATIN AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION RULES
THAT DIFFER FROM CASTILLIAN
An s before a consonant or at the end of a
word is often not pronounced
Dos Años – two years
Los Libros – the books
Buenos Noches – good night
Although not absolutely correct grammatically, it is commonly
heard and spoken in this manner.
 EMPHASIS – STRESSING SYLLABLE

The rules of stress in Spanish are:

1. When the word ends in a vowel or in "n" or "s" the
emphasis falls on the second to last syllable.
 Eg: Mañana, Como, Dedos, Hablan.
2. When the word ends in a consonant other than "n" or "s",
the emphasis falls on the last syllable.
 Eg: Ciudad, Comer, Reptil.
 EMPHASIS – STRESSING SYLLABLE

The rules of stress in Spanish are:

3. If the above two rules don't apply, there will be an accent
to show the stress.
 Eg: Fíjate, Inglés, Teléfono.
 EMPHASIS – STRESSING SYLLABLE

The rules of stress in Spanish are:

4. SPECIAL CASE: Adverbs ending in -mente, which are
derived from adjectives, have two stresses. The first stress
occurs in the adjective part of the adverb, on the syllable
where the adjective would normally be stressed. The second
stress occurs on the -men- syllable.
 Eg: Solamente, Felizmente, Cortésmente
 EMPHASIS – STRESSING SYLLABLE

5.A diphthong comprised of two weak vowels(i and u)

and showing no written accent is stressed on
the second vowel.
Rui-do – noise
Viu-do – widower
 EMPHASIS – STRESSING SYLLABLE

6.A diphthong comprised of a strong (a, e and o) and weak

vowel and showing no written accent (') is
stressed on the strong vowel
Cuo-ta – quota
Bien – well
Guapo – bold, brave
 SYLLABICATION RULES

1. One consonant, including ch, ll, and rr, is

always pronounced with the following vowel
Ciu-dad – city
Lla-mar – to call
 SYLLABICATION RULES

2.Two consonants between vowels are usually

Separated except for any combination of a consonant plus l
or n.
Car-ta – letter
Es-tá – he (she, it) is
 SYLLABICATION RULES
3.Where there are two abutting(joining) consonants and
the second one is l or r, they are generally inseparable except S
plus a consonant because it goes with the preceding syllable like is
– la (island) and Es – pan – ya.
 A-brir – to open, to begin
 Li-bre – free, at liberty
 Ha – blar
 In – gles
 LINKING OF WORDS (RULES)

1. A final vowel and the initial vowel of a following word

tend to be pronounced as one syllable:
Lindísima Amapola
Mi amigo
Hablo español
 LINKING OF WORDS (RULES)
2. A final consonant may be linked with an initial vowel of the
following word:

Es ella
Un alumno
El español
 PRACTICE

¡Hola! – Hello!
Buenos dias. – Good morning.
Buenas tardes – Good Afternoon.
Buenas noches – Good Noches.
 PRACTICE

En La Calle (In the Street)

Buenos dias. ¿Cómo está usted?
– Good morning. How are you?
Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y usted?
– Very well, thank you. And you?
 PRACTICE
En La Calle (In the Street) Continuation
Bien, gracias. ¿ Cómo está la familia?
- Good, thank you. ¿How is the family?
Todos están bien, gracias.
Adiós. Recuerdos a la familia.
- Goodbye. Regards to the family.
 PRACTICE

En La Calle (In the Street) Continuation

Gracias. Hasta Luego.
- Thank you, see you later (literally,Till later)

Ref: John Kenneth Leslie & Gin and Company. Spanish for
Conversation: A Beginning Grammar. 2nd Ed. Blaisedell Publishing
Company, 1966.