3. ¡Aprendamos agrupar consonantes y vocales para formar palabras!

Until now, we have only learned the individual vowels and the consonants in Spanish, but we also have some specific sound combinations called consonants groups. They work like one consonant and will not be separated when you divide a word in syllables. The consonant groups that we will learn here are CH, LL, and RR.

Double L or ELLE. In Spanish when we have two Ls together we have a consonant group and we never separate the LL, they are one consonant. In the previous video we studied the different sounds for this consonant group. The four sounds are correct but we prefer the sound for “jeans”; it is your decision what sound works for you.

RR is a double R. This consonant group will have the same sound as the consonant R when beginning a word. In this case the double R only occurs within a word, never at the beginning of the word and it is the same sound. Watch the next video and practice the sound.

Observa los videos 1.1.5; listen and repeat what you hear.

CH is the combination of the letter C and the letter H and is pronounced as the Ch of “Child”.

¡Practiquemos!

While watching the video, you will have the opportunity to practice the entire alphabet and the three consonants groups that we just studied; and at the same time, you will familiarize yourself with different types of accents. Remember that it’s very important that you listen and repeat the words several times, until you feel comfortable with your pronunciation.

Observa los videos 1.1.6; listen and repeat what you hear.

¡Palabras trabadas!

“Palabras trabadas” or blended words are the words that have a consonant group with a vowel, the consonant group and the vowel form a blended syllable (“sílabas trabadas”). You never will separate the consonant group and the vowel when you divide the words in syllables. Here are some examples of “palabras trabadas.” We emphasize the “sílaba trabada” in each word:

Observa los videos 1.1.7; listen and repeat what you hear.

 

In English it is very common to find double consonants, but it is very rare in Spanish—the exceptions are the consonant groups that we just studied. Spanish has only two double consonants that are not considered consonant groups → they are the double N and the double C. Because it is not a consonant group, the sound doesn’t change, so we pronounce each letter. Remember that Spanish is phonetic, you write and read it like it sounds.

The double N is not a consonant group and because Spanish is phonetic we need to read each letter, for example: innovación, you pronounce “in” first and then the next “n” with the “o” → “no”. The two “n”s have sound.

The double C is different because, as you remember, in Spanish we have two different sounds with the C, depending on the vowel that follows the C. With the E and I, the sound is soft (with each one of the two geographic pronunciations that we studied in the seseo or ceceo) and a strong sound with the A, O, and U. To be phonically consistent, Spanish language uses the two sounds when you have a double c in a word. In other words, the first C, is like the strong sound of the C like ‘k’ in cap. The second C will use the soft sound like ‘th’ in thought, if you use the pronunciation of the North and Central Spain, or the soft sounds like ‘s’ in dress, if you use the pronunciation of America and south of Spain.

As there are consonant groups, we also have vowel groups in Spanish. These vowels groups are known as diptongos, when the vowel group has two vowels; and triptongos when the vowel group has three vowels. As in the consonant groups, when we have a vowel group we have “palabras trabadas” or blended words. You never can separate the vowel group and the consonant or consonants when you divide the words in syllables. In Spanish we have only specific combinations of consonants that form a consonant group. The same is with the vowel groups. In this case, we have some easy rules to follow to know when we have a vowel group: diptongo.

The vowels A, E and O are considered strong vowels: vocales fuertes

The I and the U are soft vowels: vocales débiles

Los diptongos are the combination of one strong vowel and one soft vowel; or two soft vowels. In these two cases the two vowels stay together in the syllable.

A diptongo can be a combination of some consonants like in Cuota, but the consonant always will start the syllable. It will never be at the end of the syllable.

Los triptongos are formed by the combination of IAI – IEI – UAI – UEI and UAU. Some words that have triptongos are Cuau-tla, ro-ciáis, a-ve-ri-güéis, but for now, we want you to only know that the triptongos exist. We will study them in the future.

Later, we will study how to divide a word in syllables and all the different rules.

Observa los videos 1.1.8; Take notes on what you are hearing and reading.

¡Aprendamos pronunciar palabras!

The stress is the emphasis given to certain syllables. As in English, stress is occasionally used to differentiate between words. All words have a stressed syllable. in Spanish, we have only two degrees of stress: strong or weak. The stress always goes on a vowel of the syllable.

La sílaba tónica (the stressed syllable) in Spanish words is the one that is pronounced the loudest. How do you know which syllable is pronounced the loudest? In other words, what is the tonic syllable? Remember, el español es fonético, Spanish words are spelled just like they sound. We have these simple four rules to help show you the stressed syllable.

REGLA #1:

Words ending in vowel, n, or s are stressed on the next to the last syllable:

• CA – ma
• LI – bro
• COM – pro
• Ca – ma – RO – te
• Li – mo – NA – da
• PLU – ma
• ES – tas

REGLA #2:

Words ending in any consonant except , n, or s are stressed in the last syllable:

• doc – TOR
• ciu – DAD
• le – ER
• pa – PEL
• a – MOR
• can – TAR
• ca – mi – NAR
• be – BER

REGLA #3:

When there are exceptions to the above rules, a written accent, the ORTHOGRAPHIC ACCENT = ACENTO ORTOGRÁFICO, is applied. The written accent (the tilde) is always on the vowels and looks like this: á, é, í, ó, ú.

REGLA #4:

Written accents are also used to differentiate between words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings:

• Si vs. Sí = If vs. Yes
• Mi vs. Mí = My vs. Me
• El vs. Él = The vs. He
• Tu vs. Tú = Your vs. You

Make sure you configure your keyboard to allow for the Spanish alphabet and diacritical marks. If you need help with this, contact your campus computing department, for assistance.

¡Practiquemos!

Now you have the key elements for the correct pronunciation of Spanish words. Like we said before, some of the material that we are using is developed for kids, because we think that it is an easier way to learn. Now that you have a base of Spanish pronunciation, we would like you to study words that look or sound like English words but are going to add to your comprehension in Spanish.