A1 · Alphabet and pronunciation
Spelling: c, g, qu, gu
The vowel that follows decides how c and g sound.
c and g each have two sounds, and the vowel after them decides which. Before a, o and u they are hard, as in «cat» and «go»: casa, cosa, gato, gusto. Before e and i they turn soft: c becomes th or s (cena, cine), and g becomes the rough ch of «loch» (gente, gigante). English does something similar with «cat» and «city», only far less reliably.
To keep the hard sound before e and i, a silent u is slipped in: queso, quiero, guerra, guitarra. The u is only a signpost and is not pronounced. k turns up almost only in borrowed words such as kilo. When the u is meant to be heard, it gets two dots: pingüino, vergüenza.
This is more than a curiosity, because it reaches into the grammar: when an ending changes the vowel, the spelling changes with it so that the sound stays put. z almost never stands before e or i, so lápiz becomes lápices in the plural and pez becomes peces. The verbs do the same later on: buscar — busqué, llegar — llegué.
The form
| c and g before a, o, u: hard | casa, cosa, gato, gusto |
| c before e, i: th or s | cena, cine |
| g before e, i: the ch of «loch» | gente, gigante |
| hard sound before e, i: add a silent u | queso, quiero, guerra, guitarra |
| the u is meant to be heard: ü | pingüino, vergüenza |
| z turns into c before e | lápiz — lápices, pez — peces |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Before a, o and u, c and g are hard.
Tengo un gato en casa.I have a cat at home.
Before e and i, c and g sound different.
La gente va al cine.People go to the cinema.
The hard sound before e and i is written qu or gu.
Quiero queso, por favor.I would like some cheese, please.
In the plural, z turns into c before e.
Tengo dos lápices.I have two pencils.
How to spot it
- ce
- ci
- ge
- gi
- que
- gue
Example sentences
¿Quieres un café?Would you like a coffee?
Mi hermano toca la guitarra.My brother plays the guitar.
Hay cinco peces en el agua.There are five fish in the water.
Los pingüinos no pueden volar.Penguins cannot fly.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Writing by ear gets the plural wrong: lápiz ends in z, so you write lápizes. Before e, though, it has to be c. In the same way Spanish almost never writes the k sound with a k: cheese is queso, and without its u the guitar turns into a word with a rough ch in it.
Look at the vowel after it first, then read the c or the g.
Your turn
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