Dieresis

Written by qualified Spanish expert Inma Sánchez BA

Last updated: 2022-12-19

Spanish words that contain -gue or -gui are pronounced by omitting the u sound and making a hard g.

For example:

But there are a few words in Spanish containing -gue or -gui that are pronounced differently: the sound of the u is not omitted and the g is still hard. To indicate this, the written word uses the orthographic symbol called a "diéresis". This symbol looks like two dots above the letter u. Some examples using the dieresis are:

 Notice how the pronunciation varies if we do not include the dieresis:

U is the only Spanish letter that can have a dieresis