Consonants Part 1 (B–H)

Now that you know the five vowel sounds, it is time to tackle the consonants. Spanish consonants are generally simpler than English ones, but there are some important differences. In this lesson, we cover the first group: B, C, D, F, G, and H.

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B and V — The Same Sound

One of the biggest surprises for English speakers is that b and v are pronounced identically in Spanish. There is no distinction between them. Both letters produce the same two sounds depending on their position in a word.

The Two Sounds of B/V

Position	Sound	Description	Examples
After a pause or after m/n	Hard "b"	Like English "b" in "bat"	bien (good), vamos (let's go), hombre (man)
Between vowels or after other consonants	Soft "b"	Lips barely touch, air passes through	saber (to know), lavar (to wash), Cuba

The soft "b" (sometimes written as /β/ in phonetics) is unique to Spanish. To produce it, bring your lips close together but do not fully close them. Air should pass between your lips gently.

Practice Words:

• beber (to drink) — starts with hard b, second b is soft
• vivir (to live) — starts with soft b, second v is soft
• ambos (both) — hard b after m
• la boca (the mouth) — soft b between vowels
• un vaso (a glass) — hard b after n

Tip: Forget everything you know about distinguishing "b" and "v." In Spanish, they are the same letter phonetically. Native speakers cannot tell them apart by sound alone — they rely on context and spelling.

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C — Two Different Sounds

The letter c has two pronunciations depending on which vowel follows it.

Rule	Sound	Examples
Before a, o, u	"k" as in "cat"	casa (house), comer (to eat), cuna (cradle)
Before e, i	"s" (Latin America) or "th" (Spain)	cena (dinner), cinco (five), ciudad (city)

The "th" Sound in Spain (Distinción)

In most of Spain, ce and ci are pronounced with a "th" sound, like "th" in English "think." This is called distinción. In Latin America and parts of southern Spain, the same combinations are pronounced as "s." This is called seseo.

Word	Spain Pronunciation	Latin America Pronunciation
cero (zero)	"THEH-roh"	"SEH-roh"
cocina (kitchen)	"koh-THEE-nah"	"koh-SEE-nah"
hace (he/she does)	"AH-theh"	"AH-seh"

Tip: Both pronunciations are perfectly correct. Choose the one that matches the variety of Spanish you are learning. Most learning resources for beginners use the Latin American "s" pronunciation.

C + Consonant Combinations

When c appears before another consonant, it is always pronounced as "k":

• clase (class) — "KLAH-seh"
• creer (to believe) — "kreh-EHR"
• acción (action) — "ahk-SYOHN"

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D — Two Sounds

Like b/v, the letter d has two pronunciations depending on its position.

Position	Sound	Description	Examples
After a pause or after n/l	Hard "d"	Like English "d" in "dog"	donde (where), andar (to walk), el día (the day)
Between vowels or after other consonants	Soft "d"	Like English "th" in "this"	nada (nothing), todo (all), madre (mother)

The soft "d" is pronounced by placing the tip of your tongue between your teeth and letting air flow through, exactly like the English "th" in "this" or "the."

Practice Words:

• dedo (finger) — first d is hard, second d is soft
• poder (to be able) — soft d between vowels
• cuando (when) — hard d after n
• verdad (truth) — the final d is very soft, almost silent

Tip: At the end of a word, the soft "d" becomes extremely soft and may almost disappear. In casual speech, Madrid often sounds like "mah-DRIH" with a barely audible final d.

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F — Familiar and Simple

The Spanish f is pronounced exactly like the English "f." This is one of the easiest consonants because it requires no adjustment.