Spanish Spelling Rules

B vs V, G vs J, H rules, accent marks. Write Spanish correctly every time.

B and V — same sound, different spelling!

In modern Spanish, B and V are pronounced identically. You must memorize which to use.
Rules that help:

After M → always B: cambio, también, hombre
After N → always V: invierno, enviar, convencer
Before L or R → always B: hablar, libro, abrir
-aba endings (imperfect) → always B: hablaba, caminaba
-bir/-buir verbs → always B: escribir, recibir (except vivir, servir, hervir)

G and J before E/I

G before e/i sounds like J (harsh "h"). So both G and J make the same sound before e/i.
RuleExamples
-ger/-gir verbs → Gcoger, proteger, elegir, dirigir
-jero/-jería → Jviajero, relojería, consejero
-aje ending → Jviaje, garaje, pasaje, personaje
Past tense of traer/decir → Jtraje, dije, conduje
To keep G hard before e/i, add U: GUE, GUI

guerra (war), guitarra (guitar), guia (guide)
If the U is pronounced: add ¨ (diéresis): güe: pingüino, bilingüe, vergüenza

The silent H

H is NEVER pronounced in Spanish — but you must write it!

hablar, hacer, hoy, hasta, huevo, hijo, hora
Common confusion: a (preposition) vs ha (has — haber) vs ¡ah! (exclamation)
Trick: if you can replace with "has/have" → ha. Otherwise → a.

Accent mark rules

Word typeStressAccent needed?Examples
AgudaLast syllableIf ends in N, S, or vowelcafé, canción, francés
Llana2nd to lastIf does NOT end in N, S, or vowelárbol, lápiz, fácil
Esdrújula3rd to lastALWAYSmúsica, médico, pájaro
Question/exclamation words ALWAYS have accents

¿Qué? ¿Quién? ¿Dónde? ¿Cuándo? ¿Cómo? ¿Cuánto? ¿Por qué?
But: Sé que vienes. (no accent — not a question word)

Quick quiz

1. After M → always _____.

2. Imperfect -aba endings use _____.

3. -aje ending → always _____.

4. Guitar = guitarra. The U is there to keep G _____.

5. H in Spanish is _____.

6. Esdrújula words _____ have accents.

7. café has an accent because it's _____ ending in vowel.

8. árbol has an accent because it's _____ NOT ending in n/s/vowel.

9. Pingüino has ¨ because the U is _____.

10. ¿Qué? has accent but "que" in "sé que" _____.

Explore more Spanish resources

Free tools for translation, text-to-speech and language learning.

Learn Spanish HubTranslator