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ñ, ll, y and ch

The wave on ñ changes meaning: cana is a grey hair, caña is a cane or reed.

This unit covers four spellings that look unusual to English readers: ñ, ll, y and ch. None of the sounds is hard to make. Most of them exist in English, only spelled differently. The real work is linking each spelling to the right sound, so that you read calle, mañana and noche correctly the first time you see them.

ñ

ñ sounds like the ny in canyon or the ni in onion, said as one smooth sound: España (Spain), niño (child), mañana (tomorrow, morning), señor (sir). It is a separate letter, and it changes meaning: cana is a grey hair while caña is a cane, and pena (sorrow) is a different word from peña (rock). On a keyboard without ñ, do not simply type n, because the word may change.

BackgroundLatin had no ny sound. It appeared as Latin turned into the Romance languages, and each language chose its own spelling: Italian and French write gn, Portuguese nh and Catalan ny. Medieval Castilian scribes wrote nn and, to save time and parchment, often wrote a single n with a small wavy line above it. That shortcut became the letter ñ, which Galician and Basque later adopted too. The wavy line is called a tilde, the same word Spanish uses for the written accent mark. So Latin annus, through medieval anno, became año (year).

ll and y

For most Spanish speakers today, ll and y spell the same sound, close to the y in yes: llamo (I call), calle (street), yo (I), playa (beach). The RAE calls this merger yeísmo and says it is accepted in educated speech everywhere and nearly universal among young people. A few areas still keep an older, separate sound for ll, but the y sound is understood everywhere.

In Argentina and Uruguay the same sound is said with strong friction, like the s in measure or like English sh, so yo sounds close to sho and calle close to cashe. When y stands alone as the word and, or comes at the end of a word after a vowel, it is a vowel and sounds like i: y (and), hoy (today), muy (very), rey (king).

ch

ch sounds as in English church: chocolate, mucho (much), noche (night), coche (car). It never sounds like the k in chorus or the sh in chef.

Together these spellings let you read many everyday words at first sight: llamada (call), chaqueta (jacket), pañuelo (handkerchief), cuchillo (knife). Cuchillo has two digraphs in one word: ch opens the second syllable and ll opens the third, cu, chi, llo.

For ñ, press the middle of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, as for the y in yes, and let the n come through the nose.

The grey hints under each line are rough English respellings, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Treat them as a first guess and copy the recording, which uses a voice from Spain.

España · Spain
Hasta mañana. · See you tomorrow.
el niño y la niña · the boy and the girl
Me llamo Carmen. · My name is Carmen.
Vivo en esta calle. · I live on this street.
Yo voy a la playa. · I am going to the beach.
Buenas noches. · Good night.
Hoy llueve mucho. · It is raining a lot today.

año	year
niño	child, boy
mañana	tomorrow; morning
señor	sir, Mr
caña	cane, reed
calle	street
llave	key
playa	beach
yo	I
hoy	today
noche	night
mucho	much, a lot

Hola, me llamo Toño. ¿Y tú? Yo me llamo Yolanda. ¿Vives en esta calle? Sí, vivo aquí, cerca de la playa. ¡Hasta mañana!

ñ sounds most like…
- the ny in canyon
- the n in no
- the ng in sing
What does caña mean?
- cane, reed
- grey hair
- house
Where did the letter ñ come from?
- A shorthand for nn
- A Greek letter
- An Arabic letter
How does Portuguese write the ñ sound?
- gn
- nh
- ny
What is yeísmo?
- Saying ll and y the same way
- Dropping the letter y
- Saying yes too often
In Buenos Aires, yo often sounds like…
- yo
- sho
- jo
How is y pronounced when it means and?
- like i
- like j
- like ll
ch in noche sounds like the ch in…
- church
- chef
- chorus
Type the Spanish word for year (it has ñ).
For most speakers, which word starts with the same sound as yo?
- llave
- chico
- niño
What is the wavy line on ñ called?
- tilde
- diéresis
- coma

Key points

ñ = ny, a separate letter that changes meaning.
ll and y usually sound the same (yeísmo).
y alone or at the end = i. ch = church.