The Letter 'G' in Spanish In European Spanish

'G' is the seventh letter in the Spanish alphabet. It represents a consonant sound.

Uppercase form	G
Lowercase form	g
Letter name	ge
Phonemes and allophones	/ɡ/ ~ /ɣ/, /χ/

How to Pronounce 'G'

The letter 'g' represents two distinct phonemes in Spanish depending on its surrounding sounds.

When 'G' is Pronounced as /ɡ/

When the letter 'g' is used at the beginning of a word or after the consonant /n/, it is pronounced as /ɡ/, like the English 'g' in words like "gift." For example:

Example

gato → /ɡato/

cat

grande → /ɡɾande/

big

ingreso → /inɡɾeso/

income

When 'G' is Pronounced as /ɣ/

However, when 'g' appears after vowels or consonants other than 'n,' it is pronounced as /ɣ/, which is softer and weaker than /ɡ/. It is an allophone of /ɡ/, not a distinct phoneme. Here are some examples:

Example

amigo → /amiɣo/

friend

largo → /laɾɣo/

long

agradable → /aɣɾaðaβle/

pleasant

When 'G' is Pronounced as /χ/

When the letter 'g' appears before the vowels /e/ or /i/, it is pronounced as /χ/, which is not used in English. It is pronounced by placing the back of the tongue against the uvula and forcing the air through the narrow passage that is formed. Here are some examples:

Example

gente → /χente/

people

girar → /χiɾar/

to turn

Tip!

In some words, to keep the sound /ɡ/ before /e/ and /i/, Spanish adds 'u' between 'g' and 'e'/'i'. This 'u' is silent, but causes the 'g' to be pronounced as /ɡ/ rather than /χ/. If the 'u' is to be pronounced, it takes an accent mark and changes to 'ü', in which case the 'g' is still pronounced as /ɡ/. Here are some examples:

Example

guerra → /ɡera/

war

guitarra → /ɡitara/

guitar

bilingüe → /biliŋɡwe/

bilingual

vergüenza → /beɾɡwenθa/

shame