Vocales — Open & Closed
Abiertas — Open
A · O · U
Round, open mouth — like a circle ⭕
Wide jaw, lips rounded or relaxed
Cerradas — Closed
E · I
Smile 😊 — corners of the mouth pull back
Lips spread, jaw slightly raised
💡 Why this matters: the vowel right after a consonant decides how a sound is spelled. That's why the same sound (like /k/ or /g/) can look different depending on whether an open or a closed vowel follows. This explains QUE, QUI, GUE, GUI, CE, CI, ZA, ZO, ZU…
Sonido K
Like the "k" in "kite"
CAcasa
QUEqueso
QUIquiero
COcocina
CUcuchara
With closed vowels E/I, Spanish uses QUE / QUI to keep the hard sound — the U is silent (you don't pronounce it).
Sonido G suave
Like the hard "g" in "go"
GAgato
GUEguerra
GUIguitarra
GOgota
GUagua
Same pattern as K: GUE / GUI keep a silent U so the G stays hard. Without the U, GE and GI make a completely different sound (see Sonido J).
Sonido Z
Spain: like "th" in "think" · Latin America: like "s" in "sun"
ZAzapato
CEcesta
CIcielo
ZOzoo
ZUazul
Z pairs with open vowels (ZA, ZO, ZU). Before closed vowels E/I, C takes over (CE, CI). Same sound, different letter.
Sonido J / G fuerte
Raspy, from the back of the throat — like "ch" in Scottish "loch"
JAjamón
GE/JEjefe
GI/JIjirafa
JOjota
JUjueves
No real English equivalent. Before E/I, both G and J make this sound — but before A/O/U only J makes it.
LL = Y
lluvia 🌧
llamar 📞
silla 🪑
amarillo 🟡
pollo 🍗
LL always sounds like the "y" in "yes" — never like an English L. It's the same sound as Y in yo, ya, playa.
La Ñ
España 🇪🇸
mañana ☀️
año 📅
señor 👨
niño 👦
Ñ sounds like "ny" in "canyon" — it's a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet. Always written with the tilde (~) on top.