📖LearnModule 1 · Lesson 4 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 1 · ¡Hola! Sounds and greetings
ll, rr, j, c and g — the consonant kit
Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 4 of 30: Read Spanish in letter teams: ll says y (llave), j says a strong breathy h (jugo). On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
la llave
the key
lah YAH-beh
el carro
the car
ehl KAH-rroh
el jugo
the juice
ehl HOO-goh
el queso
the cheese
ehl KEH-soh
la zanahoria
the carrot
lah sah-nah-OH-ryah
la naranja
the orange
lah nah-RAHN-hah
la caja
the box
lah KAH-hah
la calle
the street
lah KAH-yeh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La regla · The rule
Read Spanish in letter teams: ll says y (llave), j says a strong breathy h (jugo), and so does g before e or i. Before e or i, c says s in Latin America (cinco is SEEN-koh), and so does z (zanahoria).
Y también · And also
The rr — and any r that starts a word — is rolled: carro. If the roll will not come yet, a quick single tap works and every Spanish speaker will understand you. b and v are one sound, a soft b.
Ojo · Watch out
j is never the English j: jugo is HOO-goh. And qu is always k with a silent u: queso is KEH-soh, not KWEH-soh.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with la llave.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 4 in Module 1 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.