, ja, and ju) are always spelled with a j, because a g would be a hard g if it's followed by o, a or u and wouldn't produce the h sound at all.
The letter h
You may be wondering how to pronounce the Spanish letter h when you see it in a Spanish word. The answer is that you don't pronounce it at all. The letter h is always silent. It exists because of the way the language has evolved, but now‐a‐days it is not pronounced, and it seems to confuse spelling issues. There really is no way to predict when a word will begin with a silent h, so be sure to focus on the spelling of words that you learn beginning with a silent h.
The letter d
The letter d is a bit softer in Spanish. It basically sounds like an English d, but will not be stressed at the end of the word like we do in English. Say the word “made” out loud and you'll hear how the strength of the d at the end almost creates its own syllable. In Spanish, any d at the end of the word will barely be pronounced. Say Madrid without the d at the end and you'll sound like a native. Once again, the lack of double consonants makes spelling the d sound easy: It's always a single d in any Spanish word.
The letter t
Another letter that is similar to English, but softer, is the t. It is especially soft when it is followed by an r. The sound of the tr in “triple” would be more like a tl sound in Spanish. Try to say tratar (to try, to treat) without moving your tongue away from the back of your teeth. Or if you don't mind having a slight accent, say the t like in English and keep it simple. When spelling, don't forget that the t will never be doubled in Spanish words.
The letters b and v
The letters b and v sound the same in Spanish. The sound is a combination of bv. To make the sound, start out making the b sound, and slur into the v sound at the last second. When it comes to spelling words that contain a b or a v, many Spanish speakers have difficulty determining which letter to use, but since English speakers often have difficulty pronouncing the bv letter combination, it's easier to remember how to spell words correctly since vivir (to live) would be pronounced with a stronger v sound and beber (to drink) would be pronounced with a harder b sound. This pronunciation error is helpful with spelling, but until your b's and v's sound like some mixture of both sounds, you'll have an English accent. One helpful point about the similarity of b and v in Spanish is that sometimes it will be easy to recognize a word that is similar to English if you imagine the word with a b instead of a v, or vice versa. For example, the verb gobernar means “to govern.”
When looking up Spanish words in a Spanish dictionary, keep a few points in mind:
- Remember that ll and rr are considered separate letters, so the Spanish side of some dictionaries will list words beginning with ll after the words beginning with a single l and words beginning with rr after words beginning with a single r.
- The letter ch will be found in the ch section of most dictionaries at the end of the c section.
- Another place where the dictionary listings may confuse you is when a word has the Spanish letter ñ. The little squiggle on the n is called a tilde, and it creates an entirely new letter that will follow the n's in the dictionary. For example, you will find that the word mañana is listed after manzana. The ñ is pronounced like the ny combo in “canyon” or the ni combo in “onion.”