Spanish pronunciation generator: hear Spain and Mexico side by side
Type Spanish and hear it with a Mexican or a Castilian accent, then switch voices to compare. Free, no sign-up.
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How to pronounce Spanish words
For longer Spanish audio and more voices, see Spanish text to speech. To spell out an English word by sound, use the phonetic spelling generator.
Type Spanish
Type or paste up to 500 characters of Spanish, or pick a sample. Keep the accent marks and ñ: they mark stress and a different consonant.
Press play
Listen to the whole phrase, then pick a sample to hear one hard sound on its own.
Compare voices
Pick another voice from the menu and press play again to hear the same Spanish from a different speaker.
Spanish alphabet pronunciation
The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters: the English 26 plus ñ. Ch and ll are pairs of letters, not letters of their own. The names below are the Real Academia Española's; in much of Latin America, v is also called ve corta and w doble ve. Press the alphabet sample in the box above to hear every name.
| Letter | Name | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A | a | agua |
| B | be | boca |
| C | ce | casa, cielo |
| D | de | dedo |
| E | e | elefante |
| F | efe | foca |
| G | ge | gato, gente |
| H | hache | hola (the h is silent) |
| I | i | isla |
| J | jota | jamón |
| K | ka | kilo |
| L | ele | luna |
| M | eme | mesa |
| N | ene | nube |
| Ñ | eñe | niño |
| O | o | oso |
| P | pe | perro |
| Q | cu | queso |
| R | erre | rosa, pero |
| S | ese | sol |
| T | te | taza |
| U | u | uva |
| V | uve | vaca (same sound as b) |
| W | uve doble | wifi |
| X | equis | taxi, México |
| Y | ye | yo |
| Z | zeta | zapato |
Spanish sounds English speakers get wrong
Spanish is spelled close to how it sounds. The hard part is the handful of sounds English doesn't have.
Tap r and trilled rr
A single r between vowels is one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American butter. Rr, and r at the start of a word, is a trill. Pero means but; perro means dog.
pero [ˈpe.ɾo] · perro [ˈpe.ro] · Rosa [ˈro.sa]
The jota
J, and g before e or i, is a rough h from the back of the mouth, like the ch in Scottish loch.
jamón [xaˈmon] · gente [ˈxen.te]
Ñ
Ñ is the ny in canyon.
año [ˈa.ɲo] · España [esˈpa.ɲa]
Z and soft c
In most of Spain, z and c before e or i are the th in think. In Mexico and the rest of Latin America they are an s. Play cerveza in a Castilian voice, then a Mexican one.
cerveza [θeɾˈβe.θa] in Spain · [seɾˈβe.sa] in Mexico
Soft d between vowels
Between vowels, d softens to the th in this, so nada sounds close to nah-tha.
nada [ˈna.ða] · cansado [kanˈsa.ðo]
Custom Spanish pronunciation for developers
Loanwords are read differently across the Spanish-speaking world. Many Mexicans say Wi-Fi as uai-fai, and many Spaniards as wifi. A pronunciation dictionary pins the reading your callers expect.
A pronunciation dictionary is a list of words and how to say each one. Cartesia swaps every match for its sounds-like spelling before the text is read, on sonic-3 and newer.
Pronunciation in other languages
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Spanish pronunciation FAQs
How do you pronounce Spanish words correctly?
Say every vowel short and pure, tap a single r and trill rr, and put the stress where the accent mark is, or on the second-to-last syllable when there isn't one. Type a word into the generator above to check yourself.
Is there a free Spanish pronunciation generator?
Yes. The generator on this page reads any Spanish text up to 500 characters aloud in a Mexican or Castilian voice, free and with no account.
How do you pronounce the Spanish alphabet?
Say each letter's name: a, be, ce, de, e, efe, ge, hache, i, jota, ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, cu, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve doble, equis, ye, zeta. Press the alphabet sample in the generator above to hear all 27, or see the table on this page for an example word per letter.
How do you roll your r in Spanish?
Start from the tap in pero, which is the tt in American butter. Rest the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth and push air past it until it flutters. Type perro and ferrocarril into the generator to hear the target sound.
What is the difference between Spain and Mexico Spanish pronunciation?
The best-known one is z and c before e or i, said th in most of Spain and s in Mexico. Ximena and Ramon speak Mexican Spanish and Iria and Darío Castilian Spanish, so pick one, press play, then switch to hear the other.
Can I download the Spanish audio?
Yes, with a free Cartesia account. Make an MP3 or WAV of the same text in the Cartesia Playground, or request it from the text-to-speech API.
Does Cartesia speak other Spanish accents?
Yes. Cartesia's text-to-speech model speaks 44 languages, and Spanish comes in more accents than the two here. Hear them on the Spanish text to speech page.
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