📖LearnModule 1 · Lesson 3 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 1 · ¡Hola! Sounds and greetings
The five vowels — the whole secret
Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 3 of 30: Spanish has five vowel sounds and they never change: a is ah, e is eh. 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 casa
the house
lah KAH-sah
el bebé
the baby
ehl beh-BEH
la luna
the moon
lah LOO-nah
el sol
the sun
ehl SOHL
la uva
the grape
lah OO-bah
la nube
the cloud
lah NOO-beh
la isla
the island
lah EES-lah
el oso
the bear
ehl OH-soh
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
Spanish has five vowel sounds and they never change: a is ah, e is eh, i is ee, o is oh, u is oo. English lets vowels slouch into "uh"; Spanish never does — cho-co-la-te is four crisp beats.
Y también · And also
Once the five vowels are yours, Spanish spelling almost reads itself. The respellings in this book mostly confirm what the letters already told you, and by Unit 3 you will barely need them.
Ojo · Watch out
Never a lazy vowel: casa is KAH-sah with two full ah sounds, not KAH-suh. Overdo it on purpose while you learn.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with la casa.
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 3 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.