🗣️ Pronunciation
Standard
Say it yourself
Diphthongs and vowel combinations
Recognise common diphthongs so syllable division and stress remain accurate.
A weak vowel i/u beside another vowel often stays in one syllable. A written accent on the weak vowel can break the pair into separate syllables (hiatus).
Patterns to reuse
ai/ay, ei/ey, oi/oy, au, eu, ia, ie, io, ua, ue, uo
common diphthong spellings
eye
í/ú next to another vowel often creates hiatus
día, país, río
ee
Watch out for
Splitting bueno as bu-e-no.
bue-no
ue forms one syllable here.
Treating día as one syllable.
dí-a
The accented weak vowel breaks the diphthong.
bueno → bue-no
good
ciudad → ciu-dad
city
tiene → tie-ne
has
día → dí-a
day
Weak Vowels
iu
Strong Vowels
aeo
Examples
Diphthong
bue-nociu-dadtie-nehoyEu-ro-pa
Hiatus
dí-apa-ísrí-o
Note
Silent u in que/qui and gue/gui is not a pronounced diphthong component unless marked ü.
Try it out loud
sorting
Sort words into diphthong or hiatus.
What to include
Look for accented í/ú and pronounce aloud.
clapping
Clap syllables for ten target words.
What to include
One clap per syllable.
reading
Read sentences rich in ie/ue words.
What to include
Keep the two vowels within one syllable.
Happy with all of this?
- I can hear and produce common diphthongs.
- I recognise when í or ú creates a separate syllable.
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