Five Vowels, One Sound Each

Spanish · Page 1 of 2

Name Date
DIRECTIONS: Spanish has five vowel letters and five sounds. Say each word in the table using them.
Say though, through, tough, thought. Same letters, different sounds. Spanish never does that: each vowel always says the sound in the table.
aeiouSpanish
five letters · five sounds
aeiouEnglish
five letters · twenty-two sounds
LetterAlways sounds likeA Spanish wordSay it
athe a in fathercasa (house)
ethe e in bedmesa (table)
ithe ee in seelibro (book)
othe o in moregato (cat)
uthe oo in foodluna (moon)
  1. Read these aloud using only the table, then write how each one sounds: mano · dedo · pino · burro · lápiz

Five Vowels, One Sound Each — Questions

Spanish · Page 2 of 2

  1. You have never seen the word murciélago before. Can you say it? Explain why you can, even though you have no idea what it means.
  2. Write down three English words where the same vowel letter makes different sounds. Then say why that cannot happen in Spanish.
  3. Which do you think is harder for a Spanish child learning English, or an English child learning Spanish? Give a reason.