Mastering Spanish Vowels: Pronunciation and Examples for Beginners

Do you want to know the names of Spanish vowels, how to pronounce them, and what to do when you come across words where there’s a combination of vowels? Well, keep on reading to learn more! 

1. Only five Spanish vowels

Did you know that Danish has 40 vowels? Can you imagine that?! Well, if you’re Danish, of course you obviously can, but for Spanish speakers, that’s a lot of vowels! 

To put it into perspective, el abecedario (the Spanish alphabet) has 27 letters total! Imagine 40 vowels, plus who knows how many consonants! 

Thankfully, aprender las vocales es pan comido (learning the vowels in Spanish is a piece of cake) because Spanish only has five vowels! 

Now, pay attention to what comes next because vowels are key and your understanding of them will make a huge difference in your pronunciation. 

2. Basics of Spanish vowels pronunciation

We’ve already said there are five vowels in Spanish: A, E, I, O, U, and they’re pronounced differently in relation to English, but unlike English, Spanish vowels are always pronounced the same way… Literally, always, as in every single time! 

Regardless of whether a vowel appears at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word, in between two consonants, or one vowel next to another, las vocales siempre suenan igual (vowels in Spanish will always be pronounced the same way!). 

So, to sum things up: Spanish vowels always sound the same way, no matter where they are. Additionally, you should always pronounce each of them when they appear next to each other. 

3. Spanish vowel sounds and combinations

Okay, now that you know the basics, let’s go over vowel combinations. You’ll find all sorts of them in Spanish, but even when Spanish vowels appear next to each other, unlike French or English, vowel combinations don’t change how vowels are pronounced individually.

In fact, each vowel should be pronounced separately. Therefore, vowel combinations in Spanish don’t create special sounds, what changes is the stress and accent marks will prove very helpful.  

4. Learn everything about vowels in Spanish with FREE Spanish Training

¡Muy bien! (Alright!), now you know the most important information about vowels in Spanish. I’d like to remind you that we, the Spring Spanish teachers, have a whole series of Spanish beginner videos, so feel free to check them out on our channel! 

Now, if you’re ready to take it a step further and get really serious about learning Spanish, we have a free Spanish training on our website where you’ll discover the method we use in our Spring Spanish Academy to teach students to speak fluent Spanish. You also get some free sample Spanish lessons there that come straight from our Academy!