Spanish pronunciation guide
How to pronounce LL and Y in Spanish
Most Spanish speakers pronounce ll and y the same way: calló and cayó differ only in spelling. The sound is /ʝ/, a y made with the middle of the tongue a little closer to the roof of the mouth than in English “yes”, so it has a slight buzz. For emphasis, as in ¡yo!, it can come close to the j of “jam”. In Argentina and Uruguay the same letters sound like “sh” or the s of “measure”. A separate ll, like the lli of “million”, survives only in a few regions. Tono scores Spanish against the Spain model, where ll and y sound the same.
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ll, and y before a vowel
The middle of the tongue close to the hard palate, with a little buzz. Stronger than English y, softer than English j.
llamar, calle, yo, playa
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y at the end of a word, and y meaning “and”
A vowel, the Spanish i: hoy, muy, rey, and the word y (and).
hoy, muy, rey, y
How to make the sounds
- Say English “yes” and notice where the middle of your tongue is. For Spanish ll and y, raise it a little higher, until you feel a slight buzz.
- Use the same sound for ll and y: llave and yate start the same way.
- At the end of a word, y is a vowel: muy is “mwee”, hoy rhymes with “boy”. The word y (and) is just “ee”.
- Never add an l to ll: calle is “KA-ye”, not “KAL-ye”.
In Argentina and Uruguay you will hear “KA-she” for calle and “sho” for yo. It is correct there; pick one version and keep it consistent.
Same sound, different spelling
For most Spanish speakers, the two words in each pair sound exactly the same.
- calló cayó fell silent · fell
- halla haya finds · there may be
- pollo poyo chicken · stone bench
- valla vaya fence · go
- rallar rayar to grate · to scratch
- olla hoya pot · hollow
Practice with real sentences
Tap Practice to open the sentence in Tono, listen to it, and say it.
- Me llamo Laura. My name is Laura.Practice
- Yo vivo en esta calle. I live on this street.Practice
- Mañana vamos a la playa. Tomorrow we are going to the beach.Practice
- ¿Dónde está la llave? Where is the key?Practice
- Hoy hace muy buen tiempo. The weather is very good today.Practice
- Quiero pollo con arroz. I would like chicken with rice.Practice
- Ya llegó el autobús. The bus has already arrived.Practice
- Mayo es mi mes favorito. May is my favorite month.Practice
Common mistakes
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An l in ll
Reading ll as l, or as l plus y, turns pollo into “POL-yo”. It is “PO-yo”.
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Too weak a y
An English y in yo or mayo sounds soft and foreign. Raise the tongue a little more until it buzzes slightly.
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A consonant after final y
muy and hoy end in a vowel. Do not add a buzz after them.