Spelling: general

In Spanish there is a limited number of possible syllables.

1 Consonant + vowel

These are the combinations of consonant + vowel:

a	e	i	o	u
ha	he	hi	ho	hu
		y
ba	be	bi	bo	bu
va	ve	vi	vo	vu
wa		wi
ca	que	qui	co	cu
ka	ke	ki	ko	ku
da	de	di	do	du
fa	fe	fi	fo	fu
ga	gue	gui	go	gu
	güe	güi
ja	je	ji	jo	ju
	ge	gi
		xi
la	le	li	lo	lu
lla	lle	lli	llo	llu
ya	ye	yi	yo	yu
cha	che	chi	cho	chu
ma	me	mi	mo	mu
na	ne	ni	no	nu
ña	ñe	ñi	ño	ñu
pa	pe	pi	po	pu
ra-	re-	ri-	ro-	ru-
-rra-	-rre-	-rri-	-rro-	-rru-
-ra-	-re-	-ri-	-ro-	-ru-
sa	se	si	so	su
ta	te	ti	to	tu
exa	exe	exi	exo	exu
za	ce	ci	zo	zu

Several consonants represent the same sound: b / v, c / q / k; j / g, and ll / y. The opposite situation also happens: a consonant represents several sounds: g, r. Another characteristic of the Spanish is the letter ñ.

In addition, the use of the letter s / z / c; c / qu and g / gu depends on what vowel follows; a, o and u combine with the first, and e and i with the second. However, some words bear z before e or i: zénit (or cénit), enzima (do not mistake it for encima), zinc (= cinc), zeta, zipizape, zigzag, etc.

In Spanish there are three consonants that double, they are: l, r and c (ll, rr, c). Ll sounds different from l. In the group acc, the c sounds twice: the first one as ca and the second as ce.

Letter r deserves a special attention.

• It sounds double r at the beginning of the word: ratón, rico, roto, etc.; also at the beginning of the syllable, after n or s: Israel, inri, etc., or after the consonants p, t, d, b, c, f or g: grillo, trapo, dragón, etc.; also at the end of the syllable: cerdo, beber, cantar, etc.
  The sound erre between two vowels requires of double r: perro, cerro, burro, etc.
• One single r between vowels sounds ere: pero, cero, mirada, etc.

2 Consonant + consonant + vowel + (vowel) + (consonant)

• Next syllables follow these patterns:

b, c, f, g, p + r, l + vowel

d, t + r + vowel

bra	bre	bri	bro	bru
bla	ble	bli	blo	blu
cra	cre	cri	cro	cru
cla	cle	cli	clo	clu
fra	fre	fri	fro	fru
fla	fle	fli	flo	flu
gra	gre	gri	gro	gru
gla	gle	gli	glo	glu
pra	pre	pri	pro	pru
pla	ple	pli	plo	plu
dra	dre	dri	dro	dru
cra	cre	cri	cro	cru

• In Spanish, the words may only end in:

Vowel + r

Vowel + s

Vowel + l

Vowel + n

Vowel + d

Vowel + y

Vowel + z

Vowel

Also some words from Latin ending in m: álbum, currículum, réquiem, ultimátum, etc.

And a limited list of words bear final y: hay, ¡ay!, rey, ley, estoy, doy, caray, hoy, voy, soy, muy, ¡huy!, Paraguay, Alcoy, guirigay, convoy, guay, etc.

3 Two or more syllables

• In Spanish there are impossible combinations of consonants: nb, np, mv and mm.
• In case of three intervocalic consonants, the two first gather with the vowel precedent and the third consonant with the vowel that follows: trans-por-tar, ins-pec-tor.

  Exception, if the third letter is r or l: lus-tro, cen-tro, gás-tri-co.

  When four intervocalic consonants appear in a word, the two first are linked to the preceding vowel and the two last to the vowel that follows: abs-trac-to, obs-truir.

4 Cutting words at the end of a line

Words may be cut at the end of a syllable. See former sections.

Mar- tes	Man- zana or manza -na	Pe- rro	Se- llo	Ins- tinto or instin- to	He- cho

Moreover notice these points:

• A vowel may not be alone at the end of a line.

Incorrect	Correct
A- brigo	Abri- go
I- maginación	Ima- ginación

• Two vowels (diphthong or hiatus) never appear separated.

See Diphthongs, triphthongs and hiatus

Incorrect	Correct
Po- eta	Poe- ta
Vací- o	Va- cío

• When a word has a prefix, the word can also be cut at this point.

Des- esperado	Deses- perado	Desespera- do
Súper- mercado