Deck 1 Flashcards
(277 cards)
Whole alphabet
A Ahh
B Bay. To clarify it from V, some people will say Bay Larga, Bay Grande, Bay de Burro (pronounced booro)
C Say (Ch - chay - no longer considered a letter)
D Day
E Ā
F Effay
G Hay (guttural)
H Achay
I Ē
J Hota (guttural)
K Kah
L Ellay (LL - āzhā or doblā ellay - no longer considered a letter)
M Emmay
N Ennay
Ñ Enyay
O Ō
P Pay
Q Koo
R Air-ray (slightly trilled like a D) (RR - doblā air-ray - more of a trill - never was a separate letter)
S Essay
T Tay
U Eww
V Ewwbay (official) or just Bay, or to clarify it from B, Bay Chica (small v), Bay Corta (short/cut v), Bay day Bakka (v as in vaca/cow)
W Doblā Eww (most common) or Doblā Ewwbay (official), or sometimes Doblā Bay or Ewwbay Doblā
X Ekk-keys
Y ē gree-Ā-gah (most common - means Greek I) or zhā (official - sounds like J but more like the s in pleasure)
Z Say-ta
Alphabet
2 ways to say it
El abecedario
El alfabeto
How to pronounce words with c and cc
In Latin America vs Spain
What are the two methods of pronunciation called - both in general and for c?
Latin America
C before e or i sounds like s
Otherwise c sounds like k
cc sounds like x, e.g. lección
Spain
Before e or i sounds more like th
So cinco would sound more like thinko
Spain pronunciation in general is called Castilian Spanish or Standard Spanish. Castile was a historical region of Spain.
C (and Z) pronounced like in Spain is called ceceo (thay-THAY-o) which literally means lisp. Pronounced like in Latin America is called seseo.
How to pronounce words with g, gu and gü
G before e or i sounds like h (e.g. gente) In Spain (i.e. Castilian Spanish or Traditional Spanish) before e or i has a more guttural sound.
Otherwise hard g like game
Gue (gay) or Gui (gee) used to make g hard before e and i. You don’t pronounce the u. Guiar/to guide, guerra/war.
In güe (whā) and güi (whee) g goes back to being like h and u makes a blend with e/i. Güero (where-ō = blond), güisqui (whee-ski = whisky).
How to pronounce words with ll and y
Most common way, proper way, third way
What is the most common way called
Most common way is like y. This is called yeísmo (this means pronouncing ll like Spanish y, not necessarily like English y. Spanish y can be pronounced like English y, like zh or like j. Yeísmo just means no longer pronouncing ll and y in a different way).
Proper way zh like the s in pleasure. This is in between y and j and will probably be most understandable to most people.
Another dialect is like j.
How to pronounce words with V and B.
There is no V sound in Spanish - V is pronounced like B. B is hard at the beginning of a breath group, or immediately following L, M, N (close your lips all the way). Otherwise it is softer, don’t close your lips all the way. For instance el vino is hard b, la boca is softer. A breath group is the words you say within a breath, so it could be one word, two words or a short sentence. It also depends on how quickly and clearly you are speaking. So it is not always the same.
How to pronounce words with j
Pronounce like h, with a slightly guttural sound
In Spain (i.e. Castilian Spanish or Traditional Spanish) j before e or i has a more guttural sound.
How to pronounce words with q
Q is only used with que… and qui… Qu is pronounced like k (don’t pronounce the u). So que is kay and qui is kee. e.g. queso is kay-so.
How to pronounce words with d
Hard d like in English at beginning of breath group or immediately following l or n. Otherwise soft d, more of a th sound. e.g. cuando is hard d, adiós is soft d.
Stress
The two general rules when there is no accent mark
When there is a diphthong at end of word
Two special uses of accent marks
Words that end in a vowel or n or s have stress on the next to last syllable. For words that end in diphthong, count the diphthong as one sound even though some people might pronounce both letters slightly - e.g. envidia (envy) pronounced ān-BĒD-ya (not ān-bēd-Ē-a)
Words that end in any consonant other than n or s have stress on the last syllable
If a word has an accent in a place that would not affect the pronunciation, it means there is another word with a different meaning. For instance a one syllable word with an accent, e.g. sí means yes, si means if. Or a multi syllable word with accent where stress would normally be anyway, e.g. este means east, éste means this (today only used if needed to avoid ambiguity).
Add accent to interrogative words when used in a question e.g. donde means where, use dónde in a question asking where something/someone is.
Hello
Hola
Good bye
Adiós
Tomorrow vs the morning vs tomorrow morning
Tomorrow = mañana
The morning = la mañana
Tomorrow morning = mañana en la mañana
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Buenos días
Buenas tardes
Buenas noches
What is your name?
(In conversation and in filling out a form)
(formal and informal)
What is his/her/their name?
My name is…
Their name is…
(In conversation and in filling out a form)
In conversation Informal = ¿Cómo te llamas? (Literally means “how are you called”) Formal = ¿Cómo se llama? (Literally means “how is one called”) - se is used both for formally asking someone what their name is, and asking someone what someone else’s name is.
Me llamo …
Se llama … (their name is …)
Filling out a form Informal = ¿Cuál es tu nombre? (Literally means “which is your name”) Formal = ¿Cuál es su nombre? (Literally means “which is one’s name”) - su is used both for formally asking someone what their name is, and asking someone what someone else’s name is.
Mi nombre es …
Su nombre es …
How are you?
(Formal/informal)
Fine thank you, and you?
(Formal/informal)
Informal = ¿Cómo estas? Formal = ¿Cómo está?
Informal = Bien gracias, ¿y tú? Formal = Bien gracias, ¿y Usted?
Pleased to meet you
Colloquial
Mucho gusto
See you later/tomorrow/soon
Colloquial
Hasta luego/mañana/pronto
Literally means “Until…”
How to pronounce words with r
Slightly trilled, sort of like d
rr is more trilled
How to pronounce words with z
In Latin America vs Spain
What are the two methods of pronunciation called - both in general and for z?
Latin America
Like s
Spain
More like th
So zapata would sound more like thapata
Spain pronunciation in general is called Castilian Spanish or Standard Spanish. Castile was a historical region of Spain.
Z (and C) pronounced like in Spain is called ceceo (thay-THAY-o) which literally means lisp. Pronounced like in Latin America is called seseo.
Lisp (noun)
El ceceo
Pronounced say-SAY-o in Latin America
thay-THAY-o in Spain or when referring to how they pronounce c and z in Spain
Person
Male and female
La persona
Male or female are both la persona.
And adjectives are always feminine even if describing a male.
e.g. Juan es una persona hermosa.
Orange
Color vs fruit
Naranja
Always used for fruit (la naranja)
Can also be used for the color (naranja even if masc noun because it comes from the name for the fruit which is fem)
Anaranjado/a
Can also be used for the color
Seems to mean “orangey” or “orangish”
Brown Most common way to say the color in general Another way Brown hair Brown eyes Brown skin
Marrón most common way to say brown in general
Café also common esp in Mexico, literally means coffee so usually lighter.
Castaño/a used for hair (literally means chestnut so could be used for the nut and also in general for a shade of brown)
Pardo/a seems to be used mainly for brown eyes but in some areas for brown in general too or grayish-brown
Moreno/a used for brown skin
