The Spanish alphabet is currently made up of the following 27 letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. Each letter represents a sound.
The orthography used in the Spanish language also includes the following 5 digraphs: ch, ll, rr, gu, qu.
A digraph is a combination of two letters that represent one sound. For example, the digraph “ch” represents the sound /tʃ/, as in “chip.”
Digraphs continue to be used in the Spanish language. The novelty here is that they are not considered letters of the Spanish alphabet anymore. Before 1994, the digraphs “ch” and “ll” were part of it.
Alphabet Pronunciation
Let’s learn how to pronounce each letter of the current Spanish alphabet with the following audio samples!
Notice that each audio contains a letter accompanied by its Spanish name. Click on the play button to listen to the correct pronunciation of each letter.
Interesting Fact: The sound /v/ does not exist in Spanish. That’s why the letters “b” and “v” are pronounced with the sound /b/.
Alphabet Updates
The following letters of the Spanish alphabet have more than one valid name in areas where Spanish is spoken: b, v, w, y, i.
In a congress held in 1994, the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language decided to promote the use of one unique name for each letter of the Spanish alphabet.
| Letter | Name After 1994 | Other Names |
| b | be | be larga be grande be alta |
| i | i | i latina |
| y | ye | i griega |
| v | uve | ve ve corta ve chica o chiquita ve pequeña ve baja |
| w | uve doble | ve doble doble ve doble u doble uve |
Alphabet Digraphs
The five digraphs of the orthography of the Spanish language are the following: ch, ll, rr, gu, qu. Each digraph or combination of two letters represents a sound.
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