Spanish diphthongs, triphthongs and hiatos (A2)

Do you know what are the SPANISH DIPHTHONGS? Because in this lesson we will learn how to pronounce correctly when there are two or more vowels in the same syllable, as you probably have already noticed happens very often in Spanish. First look at the example on the right the difference between a syllable and a diphthong, for example.

Diphthongs in Spanish

Diphthongs (diptongos in Spanish) are a combination of one strong (a, e, o) and one weak vowel (i, u), or of two weak vowels. Diphthongs are counted as one syllable. It may not be separated unless the weak vowel bears a written accent called “tilde”:

ai, ay	aire, hay	pronounce like “eye”
ei, ey	reino, ley	pronounce like “may”
oi, oy	oigo, hoy	pronounce like “toy”
iu	triunfo, ciudad	pronounce like “you”
ui, uy	cuidar, muy	pronounce like “Louie”
ue	hueso, muerte	pronounce like “west”
au	jaula, Paula	pronounce like “now”
eu	feudal, reuma	pronounce like “eh + oo”
ia	estudiamos	pronounce like “yacht”
ie	miel, quiero	pronounce like “ye”
ua	cuatro, mensual	pronounce like “watt”
uo	cuota, antiguo	pronounce like “quota”

Notice that many Spanish irregular verbs have diphthongs: quiero, siento, duermo, juego…

What is a Spanish triphthong?

The combination of a stressed strong vowel between two weak vowels that forms a single syllable is a triphthong (triptongo in Spanish). There are only four possible combinations of triphthongs in In Spanish:

iai	estudiáis	pronounce like “yipe”
iei	estudiéis	pronounce like “yea”
uai (uay)	continuáis, Paraguay	pronounce like “wine”
uei (uey)	continuéis, buey	pronounce like “wade”

How to break a diphthong or triphthong

If the weak vowel is stressed, there is a separation called hiato, these are not diphthongs: ca-í-da, dí-a, rí-en, Ma-rí-a, tí-os, re-í-mos, re-ú-ne…

It also an hiato when the combination of two strong vowels is separated: ca-e-mos, re-a-li-dad, le-en, em-ple-o, a-e-ro-pla-no…

Pronouncing vowels correctly in Spanish is extremely important and not always easy, so I am leaving you a video below that will be very helpful but remember that practise makes perfect and by repeating you will get your goals.

Practice Spanish diphthongs and triphthongs 

Now we are going to practice everything with an exercise, just listen and write the word in the crossword, all of them have diphthongs or triphthongs. Remember to contact your tutor if you have any question. Don’t you have a Spanish tutor online yet? You can also leave us a message if you want we prepare more activities about Spanish phonetic and pronunciation.

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Spanish diphthongs pronunciation

Spanish pronunciation is not difficult but needs some practice, listen and repeat as much as you can the words in this video, paying special attention to the vowels and diphthongs.

Take an individual tutorship if you want to practice and improve the diphthongs and in general the Spanish pronunciation.