10 common pronunciation mistakes English speakers make in Spanish

If you're an English speaker learning Spanish, here's some good news: Spanish pronunciation is way more consistent than English. What you see is (almost always) what you get. But there are some common traps that English speakers fall into, and being aware of them can make a big difference in how natural your Spanish sounds.

Let's go through the most important ones.

1. Reducing vowels to "uh"

This is the big one. In English, unstressed vowels tend to get swallowed up into a neutral "uh" sound (the schwa, /ə/). Think about how you say the word "banana". Only the stressed syllable gets a clean vowel: "buh-NA-nuh."

In Spanish, that doesn't happen. Every single vowel gets its full, clear sound, no matter where it falls in the word. The A in "banana" is always /a/, whether it's stressed or not: ba-na-na. All three are the same sound.

Spanish only has 5 vowel sounds: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, and they never change. If you can train yourself to always give each vowel its full value, you will sound dramatically better. This is, without a doubt, the most important thing you can work on.

2. Aspirating your P, T, and K

In English, when you say "pin," "time," or "car," there's a little puff of air that comes out right after the P, T, or K. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and say "top" and you'll feel it.

In Spanish, that puff of air doesn't exist. The P in "padre," the T in "tomar," and the K sound in "casa" are all produced without aspiration. They're softer, cleaner. If you keep the aspiration, it won't cause any misunderstandings, but it's one of the things that makes English speakers sound like, well, English speakers.

A trick: try saying "spot," "stop," and "scar." Notice how the P, T, and K in those words don't have the puff of air? That's the sound you want in Spanish.

3. Pronouncing the H

This one is simple, but it trips people up all the time. The H in Spanish is always silent. Always. "Hola" is /o-la/. "Hacer" is /a-ser/ (or /a-θer/ in central and northern Spain). "Hablar" is /a-blar/.

If you pronounce the H, you'll sound like you're adding a sound that doesn't belong, and it can sometimes cause confusion. Just pretend it's not there.

4. Making the D too hard

The English D is produced by pressing your tongue firmly against the ridge behind your upper teeth. The Spanish D works differently depending on where it appears.

At the beginning of a word or after N or L, the Spanish D is similar to the English one, but softer. Your tongue touches your actual teeth (not the ridge behind them). In every other position, though, it becomes even softer: it turns into a sound similar to the "th" in the English word "this." So "nada" sounds more like /na-tha/, and "todo" sounds more like /to-tho/.

This softening is one of the things that makes Spanish flow so smoothly, and skipping it is a dead giveaway of an English accent.

5. Saying a "hard" R instead of a tap

The English R (as in "red") doesn't exist in Spanish. Spanish has two R sounds, and neither of them is the English one.

The single R (as in "pero," meaning "but") is a quick tap of the tongue against the ridge behind your upper teeth. It's actually very similar to how Americans pronounce the T in words like "butter." If you can say "butter" naturally, you already know how to make this sound. Just use it where Spanish has a single R.

The double R (as in "perro," meaning "dog") is the famous rolled or trilled R. If you can't do it yet, don't panic. Many near-native speakers never fully master the trill, and it's not the end of the world. But getting the single R right as a tap (and not as an English R) is very important and very achievable.

6. Using English vowel glides

In English, the vowels O and E tend to glide into other sounds. Say "no" slowly. Your lips probably move from an O shape to a U shape. That's a diphthong: /noʊ/. Same thing with "say", it glides from E to I: /seɪ/.

In Spanish, these vowels are pure. The O in "no" is just /o/. Your mouth stays in the same position the entire time. The E in "tres" is just /e/. No glide, no movement.

This is subtle, but it makes a real difference. Try saying "peso" and "solo" while keeping your mouth completely still on each vowel. It might feel exaggerated at first, but that's actually how it's supposed to sound.

7. Stressing the wrong syllable

English stress patterns are unpredictable. You just have to memorize where the stress falls in each word. Spanish, on the other hand, has clear rules:

• If a word ends in a vowel, N, or S, the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable: CA-sa, HA-blan, ca-ma-RO-nes.

• If a word ends in any other consonant, the stress falls on the last syllable: ha-BLAR, ciu-DAD, es-pa-ÑOL.

• If a word breaks either of these rules, it gets a written accent mark to tell you: te-LÉ-fo-no, ca-FÉ, MÚ-si-ca, ÁR-bol, ÁN-gel, can-TÓ.

In other words, Spanish always tells you where the stress goes. You never have to guess. But English speakers sometimes import their own stress patterns, especially with cognates. "Animal" in English has the stress on the first syllable; in Spanish it's a-ni-MAL. "Hotel" in English stresses the second syllable, and so does Spanish (ho-TEL), but "chocolate" is a common one where people get it wrong: it's cho-co-LA-te.

8. Making the Spanish B/V distinction

Here's the thing: there is no distinction. B and V in Spanish sound the same. They're both /b/ (a bilabial sound, with both lips). There's no labiodental V sound like in the English word "very," where your upper teeth touch your lower lip.

So "vino" and "beso" both start with the same sound. If you pronounce V the English way, it won't cause misunderstandings, but it adds to the foreign accent. Let your V be a B, and you'll sound more natural.

9. Pronouncing Z as a buzzing /z/

In English, the letter Z makes a buzzing sound, as in "zoo" or "zero." English speakers naturally bring that buzzing /z/ into Spanish, but it doesn't belong there. The Spanish Z never buzzes.

In Latin America, Z is simply pronounced /s/, just like an S. So "zapato" is /sa-PA-to/, "corazón" is /ko-ra-SON/, and "cerveza" is /ser-BE-sa/. In central and northern Spain, Z is pronounced /θ/ (like the "th" in "think"): /θa-PA-to/, /ko-ra-θON/, /θer-BE-θa/. Either way, it's never the English buzzing /z/.

10. Treating Spanish J like English J

The English J (as in "juice") doesn't exist in Spanish. The Spanish J is a completely different sound. It's a raspy, throaty /x/, kind of like a strong H pushed from the back of your throat. In some dialects in Spain and Latin America, it softens to something closer to a standard English H.

So "julio" is /XU-lio/ or /HU-lio/. "Jugar" is /xu-GAR/ or /hu-GAR/. And "jardín" is /xar-DIN/ or /har-DIN/. The same sound appears with G before E or I: "gente" is /XEN-te/ or /HEN-te/, "girafa" is /xi-RA-fa/ or /hi-RA-fa/.