Spanish, Pronunciation, Alphabet, Articles and Demonstratives, Subject Pronouns

Pronunciation

Spanish Letter	English Sound
a	ah
e	ay
i	ee
o	oh
u	oo
ll	y
v	b at beginning of word, real soft b between 2 vowels
ñ	ny (as in canyon)
r	almost like a d when in between 2 vowels
rr	r w/ a roll of the tongue
d	almost like a th when in between 2 vowels
j	hard h
g	g, sometimes a h
qu	k
ai / all / ay	eye
z	s
z, ce, ci	th (in most parts of Spain)

Note: Any time I put a double r (rr) in the pronunciation of a word, you need to roll your tounge when you say the r's.

Alphabet

a	ah	j	hoh-tah	r	air-ay
b	bay	k	kah	rr	airr-ay
c	say	l	ay-lay	s	ay-say
ch	chay	ll	ay-yay	t	tay
d	day	m	ay-may	u	oo
e	ay	n	ay-nay	v	oo-bay
f	ay-fay	ñ	ayn-yay	w	doh-blay-bay
g	hey	o	oh	x	ah-kees
h	ah-chay	p	pay	y	ee-gree-ay-gah
i	ee	q	koo	z	say-tah

Note: The Spanish language academy no longer considers the ch, ll or rr to be separate letters of the alphabet.

Articles and Demonstratives

	Masc. Singular	Fem. Singular		Masc. Plural	Fem. Plural
the	el (ail)	la (lah)	the	los (lohs)	las (lahs)
a, an	un (oon)	una (oon-ah)	some	unos (oon-ohs)	unas (oon-ahs)
this	este	esta	these	estos	estas
that	ese	esa	those	esos	esas
that	aquel	aquella	those	aquellos	aquellas

Note: El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first syllable. Use the ese froms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you are addressing. Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both you and the person you are addressing. Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that. They can be used in general and abstract ways.

Subject Pronouns

yo	yoh	I	nosotros(as)	noh-soh-trohs	we
tú	too	you (informal)	vosotros(as)	boh-soh-trohs	you all
él / ella / usted	ail / ay-yah / oo-sted	he / she / you (formal)	ellos / ellas / ustedes	ay-yohs / ay-yahs / oo-sted-ays	they / they / you (plural)

Note: Vosotros is used only in Spain when speaking to more than one person with whom you know well. Nosotras and vosotras refer to a group of all females, as well as ellas. Ustedes is almost always used for saying "you all" in all Spanish speaking countries. Usted can be abreviated to Ud. Ustedes can also be abreviated to Uds. Please note that the subject pronouns are rarely used before verbs.