The Letter 'E' in Spanish

'E' is the fifth letter in the Spanish alphabet. It represents a vowel sound.

Uppercase form	E
Lowercase form	e
Letter name	e
Phoneme	/e/

How to Pronounce 'E'

The letter 'e' is pronounced as an unrounded vowel. Its pronunciation is like the short English /e/ in words like 'bed.' However, the Spanish /e/ has a consistent pronunciation and its length does not change the way the English 'e' does. Here are some examples of Spanish words that include this letter:

Example

mesa → /mesa/

table

bebé → /beβe/

baby

estrella → /estɾeʝa/

star

tener → /teneɾ/

to have

pequeño → /pekeɲo/

small

Diphthongs

The letter 'e' can form diphthongs with the weak vowels /i/ and /u/. In such cases, the quality of the sound 'e' makes does not change. Here are some examples:

Example

tierra → /tjera/

earth

miedo → /mjedo/

fear

tiempo → /tjempo/

time

Example

fuego → /fweɡo/

fire

nuevo → /nweβo/

new

bueno → /bweno/

good

Example

reina → /reina/

queen

peine → /peine/

comb

Example

deuda → /deuða/

debt

reunión → /reunjon/

meeting

neumonía → /neumonia/

pneumonia

'E' as a Conjunction

The letter 'e' can be used as a coordinating conjunction to show addition. It is used instead of 'y' before words that starts with 'i' or 'hi.' For example: