The Sounds of Spanish (Part 2)

Los Consonantes (The Consonants)

B and V
B -  el búho (the owl) / los búhos (the owls)
       EL BOO-HOH
La letra BE, pronounced like the English word "Bay."
"Be Larga" is sometimes said to distinguish Be from VE because the names sound so similar.
B is pronounced like the B in english.
Ba - BAH
Be - BAY
Bi - BEE
Bo - BOH
Bu - BOO

V  -  la ventana (the window) / las ventanas (the windows)
        LAH VAYN-TAH-NAH
La letra VE, pronounced like the English word "Bay" but with a softer b.
"Ve Cheque" is sometimes said to distinguish Ve from Be because the names sound so similar.
V sounds very different than the English V. It has a "bv" sound. It sounds like a soft b sound but the lips are not quite closed all the way.
Va - BVAH
Ve - BVAY
Vi - BVEE
Vo - BVOH
Vu - BVOO



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C, Q, K and Z
C  -  el camión (the truck*) / los camiones (the trucks*)
        EL KAH-ME-OHN
La letra CE, pronounced like the English word "Say."
C changes its sound based which vowel follows. It also has a different sound in the "Castelleno" (Castilian) dialect in Spain.
When C is followed by an A, O or U, it has the same sound as the English K.
                    CA - la cantidad (the quantity) / las cantidades (the quantities)
                             LAH KAHN-TEE-DAHDD
                    CO - el coco (the coconut) / los cocos (the coconuts)
                             EL KOH-KOH
                    CU - el cunado (the brother-in-law) / los cunados (the brothers-in-law)
                             EL KOO-NAH-DOH
                 
When C is followed by an E or an I, it has the same sound as an English S. However, in Castilian Spanish in Spain, the sound is a soft TH sound pronounced with a slight exhale.
                    CE - la cena (the dinner) / las cenas (the dinners)
                             LAH SAY-NAH
                             LAH THAY-NAH  in Spain
                     CI - el cinturón (the belt) / los cinturones (the belts)
                             EL SEEN-TOO-ROHN
                             EL THEEN-TOO-ROHN in Spain

When C is followed by H it has the same sound as CH in English. In recent years CH has been officially removed from the official Spanish Alphabet along with LL and RR. All three used to be stand alone letters but are now considered blends of existing letters.
                     CH - el chaqueta (the jacket) / los chaquetas (the jackets)
                              EL CHAH-KAY-TAH

Q  -  el queso (the cheese) / los quesos (the cheeses)
        EL KAY-SOH
La letra QU, pronounced like the English "COO" in "Coon."
Q always has sound just like the English K. It is almost always followed by a silent U.
                    QUE - pronounced like "KAY" in English
                    QUI - pronounced like "KEY" in English

K  -  el kilómetro (the kilometer) / los kilómetros (the kilometers)
        EL KEE-LOH-MEH-TRO
La letra KA, prounced like "KAH" in English.
K always sounds the same as English. K is only used in foreign words or words of foreign origin.
                    KA - pronounced like "KAH" in English
                    KE - pronounced like "KAY" in English
                    KO - pronounced like "KOH" in English
                    KI - pronounced like "KEY" in English
                    KU - pronounced like "COO" in English

Z  -  el zapato (the shoe) / los zapatos (the shoes)
        EL SAH-PAH-TOH or EL THAH-PAH-TOH
La letra ZETA, pronounced SAY-TAH or THAY-TAH.
Z sounds like S in most of the Spanish world, but Castilian Spanish changes the sound to the same soft TH sound as with CE and CI.
                    ZA - pronounced "SAH" or "THAH"
                    ZO - pronounced "SO"or "THO"
                    ZU - pronounced "SUE" or "THOO"
                    ZI - pronounced the same as the CI syllable, but ZI will not be used. This sound is almost always spelled CI.
                    ZE - pronounced the same as the CE syllable, but ZE will not be used. This sound is almost always spelled CE.

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D  -  el diente (the tooth) / los dientes (the teeth)
        EL DEE-EN-TAY
La letra DE, prounced like "DAY" in English.
D has the same sound as English except that the D is always a hard D in Spanish. English has a tendency to soften the sound. If you soften the sound, a native speak may think you are pronouncing an  R instead of a D. Native speakers will sometimes soften the last D in words that end in -DAD, but this is technically incorrect pronunciation. La Navidad is pronounced LAH NA-BVEE-DAHDD and not LAH NAH-BVEE-DAH.
                    DA - pronounced like "DAH" in English
                    DE - pronounced like "DAY" in English
                    DO - pronounced like "DOH" in English
                    DI - pronounced like "DEE" in English
                    DU - pronounced like the English word "DO"

Lesson To Be Continued….