Pronunciation and use of ü

Question

What is the use of ü? I can't find it on the website or anywhere else. When is it used? How is it pronounced? Thanks.

Answer 1

You should search previous threads for answers before posting. We just had a thread on this yesterday.

diéresis

yesterday's thread

Sorry. I couldn't find anything by searching and I figured it would be tedious to go through it page by page. - idahorsegirl, Dec 12, 2009

I'm having a hard time finding it myself. - 0074b507, Dec 12, 2009

Thanks. - idahorsegirl, Dec 12, 2009

I found it by searching for "Dieresis". The question was called "What is the u with two dots over it?" http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/118202/what-is-the-letter-u-with-two-dots- - idahorsegirl, Dec 12, 2009

I found it . Thanks. - 0074b507, Dec 12, 2009

By the way, it seems you accidentally linked to the other page twice. - idahorsegirl, Dec 12, 2009

Answer 2

Whenever you see the "ü" in Spanish, a "g" will most likely precede it, and an "e" or "i" will usually follow it. In Spanish, when there is a "gue" or "gui," you would pronounce it with the hard "g" sound as in "gustar" and the "e" or "i," and you ignore the "u." However, when it is "güe" or "güi," you would pronounce it with a hard "g" sound again, but you would pronounce the "ü" as you would the "u" in "averiguar" with the sound of the vowel that follows. The reason "averiguar" doesn't use the "ü" in the infinitive is due to the fact that the "g" doesn't change sound when an "a," "o," or "u" follows it, but it DOES change sound when an "e" or "i" follows it, being pronounced like the English "h."

Here's an example of "averiguar" without the "ü": "Yo averiguo." (I find out.)

Here's an example of "averiguar" where you would use the "ü": "Yo averigüé." (I found out.)

Since the preterite tense requires that the "-ar" verbs end with an "e" for the "yo" conjugation, "ü" is needed to keep the sound of the infinitive. The sound of the infinitive is kept in the present tense of "averiguar" of the "yo" conjugation.

I hope you found this useful!

how would you pronounce the word güandules? If the letter A follows the ü? - kharimel, Aug 19, 2011