este = this
lo peló = peeled it Grammar: Pasado indefinido: este = this lo saló = salted it Grammar:
y este gordito, gordito = and this (very / pretty) little thick one se lo comió = ate it Grammar: This is one of the cases, where there is a reflexive pronoun which does not have a semantic meaning. As there is no rule for it, its use depends a lot on the context. We recommend - just ignore it for the time being.
todito, todito = totally Grammar: Another exception: usually there is no diminutive of indefinite pronouns. Only todo is an exception here.
1.1 Pronunciation
of single letters: c, ch, g, j, h, ñ, r, t, v,
b, x, z
First of all, welcome to the course. As you can see we will start
in the very beginning with the pronunciation of Spanish.
Don't worry, it's quite easy and you'll find throughout
the manual spoken language to learn also the pronunciation.
In general one could say that Spanish
pronunciation follows certain rules and does have only
a few unusual sounds in the language. One challenge
will be the vocals another some of the consonants.
The
vowels are
Spanish
example of phonetic sound
a
short: cup,
long: barn
e
short: pet,
long: pair
i
short: pit,
big, long: bee
o
short: pot,
long: born
u
short: put,
long: poor
English knows many ways of pronouncing a vowel.
We are not even talking about the different English
dialects (thinking about Irish English vs. Western American)
but also within one dialect of the language there are
many possibilities. Spanish is easy in the way that
the vowels do not change the way they are pronounced.
However, vowels always work with consonants.
To have them all in one place they are:
b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ñ,
p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
Good news is there is only one new consonant: ñ
but we will come back
to this one a bit later.
Another good news is that most of them
are pronounced the same as in English:
d, f, k, l, m, n, p, q, s,
t, x There are only seven left, about which we have to care.
One short note still: There are differences
between Spanish and Southern American spoken language.
We will - whenever possible - refer to these differences.
The first consonant we have to look
at is the c. Before an
e or an i it is pronounced like the English th.
In Southern America and in the region of Andalusia the
c is pronounced rather a simple s. But since most Emigrants
to Southern America came from Andalusia this does not
really surprise. Which one is the ultimately right way
of pronouncing cannot be discussed here. Just do as it
suits you or the one you are talking to does. Main thing
is anyway to start talking regardless the question what
is right or wrong.
c
cebolla= onion
Spanish
pronunciation
Southern
American pronunciation
cigarrillo = cigarette
Spanish
pronunciation
Southern
American pronunciation
z
the sound
of z is identical
to the sound of ci
or ce.
Spanish
pronunciation Zaragoza= Zaragoza (town
in northern Spain)
Southern American
pronunciation
g with
a, o, u
The consonant
g in combination with a, o and u is as we
see a g like in gamble, gig, gag, gourmet.
guerra= war
gordo= fat
gü
gü
is very the very seldom case the u after
the g is spoken as well. This combination
is quite rare in the Spanish language.
cigüeña = stork
g
with e and i
The consonant
g is quite difficult
to pronounce since it is a throat-sound that
is not very often used in English language.
The sound that is closest to the real Spanish
g (followed by i / e) is loch
of Loch Ness. It's identical with the
consonant j.
Jaime= Jaime (span. Vorname)
gitano = Zigeuner
gente = Leute
g
- summary
g
is a g like in gag, gig or gamble when after
the g
follows an a,
o
or u.
g is a g like in gag, gig or gamble with
a spoken u
after the g
when the
spelling is gü.
g is spoken like ch
in Loch Ness after the g
follows an e
or an i.
h
h
is easy to be pronounced in Spanish - it is
not pronounced at all. Just pretend it is
not there then everything is done correctly.
harina= flour
zanahoria = carrot
ñ
The
only consonant that does not exist in the
English alphabet is ñ (n with tilde).
It looks different but it is easy to pronounce
like Enya (the singer)
el
niño= child
r
& rr
Depending
on where you come from the r & rr might
cause most of the difficulties. First it
is a rolling r and
second it is a difference also in the meaning
whether there is one or two r.
pero=
but
perro = dog
v
The Spanish
v is slightly
different from the English one. The English
is formed by putting the teeth on the lower
lip and pushing air through the lips. The
Spanish is softer. Think a b, like in beer
and then do not close the lips put leave
a little room for the air to flow through them.
Then you have a Spanish v.
volar = to fly
vino = wine
b
b
and v are
in the Spanish world of sound identical.
Therefore you can here practice the same:
Think an English b like in bumblebee
and leave a little room between the lips.
The fact that b
and v
are identical
may cause some confusion later on when you
hear something and you cannot be sure which
consonant of the two is to be use.
beber= to drink
y
If y
stands without a vowel it is simply spoken like
in baby.
