The version of Spanish language spoken today is derived from a dialect of spoken Latin, which is also called ”Vulgar Latin ”, brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans in the 13th century. As Spain's monarchs explored and conquered other parts of the world, they brought with them the Spanish language, which then spread to South and North America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia.
At present, Spanish is spoken by over 500 million people, and it is the official language in 21 countries and several international organisations such as The United Nations, The European Union, and the Organisation of American States.
The Spanish language has 27 letters. Out of them, 5 are vowels and the remaining 22 are consonants. Like the English letters, the Spanish letters also come in both lowercase and uppercase variation. The Spanish also has several accented letters, upside-down question mark (¿), and upside-down exclamation mark (¡).
Below is the breakdown of all letters and symbols.
Spanish Vowel Letters
Just like in the English alphabets, the Spanish alphabet consists of only 5 vowels letters.
Spanish Vowels (Lowercase)
Spanish Vowels (Uppercase)
Spanish Consonant Letters
All Spanish consonant sounds exist in English, except for the Ññ (eh ni eh) sound. With this additional consonant there are 22 consonant sounds in Spanish. Many consonants have the same sound found in English. The following table shows all the consonants and help you pronounce them.
Spanish Consonants (Lowercase)
Spanish Consonants (Uppercase)
Accent Characters in Spanish
In Spanish, accent marks, also known as `tildes`, are important. The use of accent completely changes the meaning of the word. To give you an example, más means more whereas mas means but.
Once we know and follow the rule of accent marks in Spanish, they are easy to learn.
Digits in Spanish
Digits in Spanish are written same as in English. However, it is spelled differently. Table below shows how to write and pronounce digits in Spanish.
Special Characters in Spanish
The Spanish language has few special characters that are only found in Spanish keyboards. For E.g. inverted question mark (¿), inverted exclamation point (¡), feminine ordinal indicator (e. g. la primera = 1ª) and masculine ordinal indicator (e.g. el priemro = 1º).
Below are few additional special characters:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many letters are in Spanish?
There are 27 letters in Spanish script. Out of them, 5 are vowel letters and remaining 22 letters are consonants.
Where is Spanish spoken?
Spanish is the official language in 21 countries. They are: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. In addition, Spanish is also the official language of several international organisation such as The United Nations, The European Union, and the organisation of American States.
How many people speak Spanish?
Spanish is spoken by over 500 million people around the world making it the fourth most spoken language.
