Letters of the alphabet in Spanish: feminine

Take the fastest path to fluent Spanish
Note that this is a Europe focused lesson. Your active focus is Latin America.

Learn about the letters of the alphabet in Spanish

In Spanish, the letters of the alphabet are feminine.

Read and listen to these examples:

La a es la primera letra.A is the first letter.

La be es una consonante.B is a consonant.

La palabra "país" tiene una pe.The word "país" has a p.

La palabra "euro" tiene una u.The word "euro" has a u.

Note that when you are spelling a word you do not need to use articles (la or una). For example, to spell "Antonio" you would say: 

a - ene - te - o - ene - i - oa - n - t - o - n - i - o

There are 27 letters in the Spanish alphabet. Here you can see how they are written out in full and listen to the audio to hear how they are pronounced:

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 - i griega - zetaa - 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

Note: Depending on when you learned Spanish, you may have learned about two letters that are no longer considered as proper letters. However, you may still hear people use them when they are spelling a word so it is useful to know about them. These letters are:

  • the letter "ch"

chech

  • the letter "ll"

ellell

In addition, some letters are known by more than one name. Here are the most notable cases:

  • the letter "v"

Some people call this letter "la ve" and when they do they might also call it "la ve baja" or "la ve pequeña". This is because "la ve" (for the letter V) and "la be" (for the letter B) are pronounced identically for the majority of Spanish speakers. For this reason the form "la uve" is the preferred nomenclature. 

  • the letter "y"

Some people call this letter "la ye" to completely distinguish the letter Y from the letter "la i" (the letter "i", see below).

  • the letter "i"

Some people call this letter "la i latina" to differentiate it from the letter Y when it is known as "la i griega" (see above).

Want to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics

Examples and resources

chech
ellell
a - ene - te - o - ene - i - oa - n - t - o - n - i - o
La palabra "euro" tiene una u.The word "euro" has a u.
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 - i griega - zetaa - 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
La a es la primera letra.A is the first letter.
La be es una consonante.B is a consonant.
La palabra "país" tiene una pe.The word "país" has a p.
Thinking...