Lesson 1: Reading Spanish. The alphabet. Stress. Numbers 0–20

Part 1: The golden rule of Spanish reading

Spanish reads exactly the way it's written. No silent letters trying to ambush you, no "hidden" sounds. Learn 15 rules and you'll read ANY Spanish word correctly.

Spanish is the most reading-friendly language in the Romance family. If you see casa, it's "KAH-sah" — no other interpretation possible. Compare that with English, where "though, through, tough, thought" all use the same letters and sound completely different. Spanish doesn't do that to you.

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Part 2: Vowels — five clean sounds

Letter	Sound	Example
a	"ah" (always pure, like father)	casa — "KAH-sah"
e	"eh" (always open, like bed)	mesa — "MEH-sah"
i	"ee" (short, like see)	libro — "LEE-bro"
o	"oh" (always pure — NOT the schwa English does in unstressed syllables)	mono — "MOH-no"
u	"oo" (like boot)	uno — "OO-no"

The single biggest trap for English speakers: Spanish vowels don't reduce. English turns unstressed vowels into "uh" (the schwa) — banana sounds like "buh-NAN-uh". Spanish banana is "bah-NAH-nah" — every vowel stays loud and clear. If you pronounce casa as "KAH-suh", a Spanish speaker will hear it as a different word. Loud and equal — every vowel, every time.

Diphthongs — two vowels in a row

They don't merge into one sound; they stay distinct but flow quickly together:

Diphthong	Sound	Example
ai / ay	"eye"	baile — "BUY-leh"
ei / ey	"ay" (like day)	seis — "SAYS"
oi / oy	"oy" (like boy)	hoy — "OY"
au	"ow" (like cow)	causa — "COW-sah"
eu	"eh-oo" (no perfect English match)	Europa — "eh-oo-ROH-pah"
ia / ie / io	"yah / yeh / yoh"	piano — "PYAH-no"
ua / ue / uo	"wah / weh / woh"	agua — "AH-gwah", bueno — "BWEH-no"

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Part 3: Consonants — ten rules cover 90%

Letter / combo	How to read	Example
h	ALWAYS silent	hola — "OH-lah", hotel — "oh-TEL"
j	harsh "h" (think loch in Scottish, or German Bach)	jefe — "HEH-feh", José — "ho-SEH"
g + e/i	same harsh "h" (= j)	gente — "HEN-teh", gigante — "hee-GAHN-teh"
g + a/o/u	hard "g" (like go)	gato — "GAH-toh", grande — "GRAHN-deh"
gu + e/i	hard "g" (the u is silent)	guerra — "GEH-rrah", guitarra — "gee-TAH-rrah"
gü + e/i	"gw" (the ü makes u sound)	pingüino — "peen-GWEE-no"
c + e/i	in Spain = "th" (like think); in Latin America = "s"	cinco — "THEEN-ko" / "SEEN-ko"
c + a/o/u	"k"	casa — "KAH-sah", cuna — "KOO-nah"
z	in Spain = "th"; in Latin America = "s"	zapato — "thah-PAH-toh" / "sah-PAH-toh"
qu + e/i	"k" (the u is silent)	queso — "KEH-soh", quince — "KEEN-theh" / "KEEN-seh"
ñ	"ny" (like canyon)	España — "es-PAH-nyah", niño — "NEE-nyoh"
ll	in Spain = "y" (like yes); in Argentina = "zh/sh"	llamar — "yah-MAR" / "zhah-MAR"
r at start / rr	rolled "r-r-r" (you'll have to practice this — flick the tongue against the alveolar ridge)	rosa — "RROH-sah", perro — "PEH-rroh"
r in middle / end	single flap — closer to American "tt" in butter	pero — "PEH-roh", para — "PAH-rah"
v	pronounced as "b" (there is no English-style "v" sound in Spanish!)	vino — "BEE-no", vaca — "BAH-kah"
ch	"ch" (like English church)	chico — "CHEE-ko", coche — "KO-cheh"
y	"y" at start, "ee" at the end of a word	yo — "YOH", hoy — "OY"

Trap #1: Hola reads "OH-lah" — not "HO-lah". The h is silent. Forget it exists. Trap #2: Vino (wine) and bino sound identical to a Spanish ear. Even native speakers occasionally mix them up in writing. Trap #3: Que is "KEH", not "kweh" or "kway". After q, the u is always silent. Trap #4: Perro (dog) ≠ pero (but). Different word — the only difference is whether you roll the r. Worth practicing until your tongue cooperates.

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Part 4: Stress — three types of words

In Spanish, every word belongs to one of three categories. You can tell where the stress falls in 3 seconds from a simple rule.

Type 1: Aguda — stress on the LAST syllable

Rule: if the word ends in a consonant (except n or s), stress is on the last syllable — no tilde needed.

Word	Pronunciation	Ending
ciudad	"syoo-DAHD"	-d
profesor	"pro-feh-SOR"	-r
feliz	"feh-LEETH"	-z
reloj	"rreh-LOH" (the j is harsh "h")	-j

If an aguda ends in a vowel / -n / -s — a tilde IS required:

Word	Pronunciation	Why the tilde
café	"kah-FEH"	ends in a vowel, stress on the last syllable
sofá	"soh-FAH"	ends in a vowel
canción	"kahn-THYOHN"	ends in -n
autobús	"ow-toh-BOOS"	ends in -s

Type 2: Llana / Grave — stress on the SECOND-TO-LAST syllable

Rule: if the word ends in a vowel / -n / -s — stress on the second-to-last syllable, no tilde. This is the most common type in Spanish.

Word	Pronunciation	Ending
casa	"KAH-sah"	-a
libro	"LEE-bro"	-o
examen	"ek-SAH-men"	-n
crisis	"KREE-sees"	-s
comen	"KOH-men"	-n

If a llana ends in a consonant (other than n/s) — a tilde IS required:

Word	Pronunciation	Why the tilde
árbol	"AR-bol"	ends in -l, but stress on second-to-last
azúcar	"ah-THOO-kar"	ends in -r, but stress on second-to-last
fácil	"FAH-theel"	ends in -l

Type 3: Esdrújula — stress on the THIRD-FROM-LAST syllable

Rule: ALWAYS takes a tilde. No exceptions.

Word	Pronunciation
música	"MOO-see-kah"
miércoles	"MYEHR-koh-less"
América	"ah-MEH-ree-kah"
matemáticas	"mah-teh-MAH-tee-kahs"
teléfono	"teh-LEH-foh-no"

Memorize it this way: see a tilde → stress is right there. No tilde → apply the ending rule: vowel/n/s → second-to-last; consonant → last.

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Part 5: Numbers 0–20

Numbers 0–10 — memorize cold

0	1	2	3	4	5
cero	uno	dos	tres	cuatro	cinco

6	7	8	9	10
seis	siete	ocho	nueve	diez

Pronunciation: cero "THEH-ro" (Spain) / "SEH-ro" (LatAm), uno "OO-no", cinco "THEEN-ko", seis "SAYS", nueve "NWEH-beh" (v=b!), diez "DYETH" / "DYES".

Numbers 11–15 (their own system)

11	12	13	14	15
once	doce	trece	catorce	quince

Pronunciation: once "OHN-theh", quince "KEEN-theh" (qu = "k", u silent!).

Numbers 16–19 (compound: dieci- + digit)

16	17	18	19
dieciséis	diecisiete	dieciocho	diecinueve

Notice the tilde on dieciséis! It became aguda (stress on the last syllable), ends in -s — so the tilde is required.

Number 20

veinte — "BAYN-teh" (v=b, ei = "ay").

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