The Spanish alphabet
The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters: in addition to the familiar letters A–Z, there is «ñ», a letter in its own right. It comes right after «n» in the alphabet.
Accents and other marks
«á, é, í, ó, ú» are not separate letters but vowelsvowelsA sound like a, e, i, o, or u, and the letter used to write it. with an accent. It often shows which syllable is stressed, and it can also distinguish between words. «ü» is not a separate letter either: the dieresisdieresisThe two dots over a vowel, for example over ü. shows in certain combinations that the «u» is pronounced, for example in «pingüino».
Questions and exclamations
For questions and exclamations, Spanish also uses an opening question or exclamation mark: «¿Cómo estás?», «¡Hola!». These marks are not part of the alphabet.
Pronunciation
Some letters sound different in Spanish than English-speaking beginners might expect. The exercise below invites you to discover each letter individually.
Good to know
- Ñ → niño, mañana
- á, é, í, ó, ú → vowels with an accent
- ü → pingüino
- ¿ … ? → ¿Cómo estás?
- ¡ … ! → ¡Hola!