Difference in sound between je and ge?

Question

Equipaje

Gerente

From my understanding both the j in the first and the g in the second word sound like a raspy English h. Is there a way to tell from the sound (or structure) of a word whether it's spelled with a j or a g?

Answer 1

I had a friend from mexico who told me that even though both make an "h" sound, "g" is more aspirated and guttural.

Good one. Then I'll make my g's sound more like the Dutch g's. - S1r_Wakka, Jul 9, 2011

I don't think it's way, way gutteral. I think this guy says it like I mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiV753kqrFI - andres2011, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 2

No difference whatsoever, and there is no way to tell whether such a sound will be written with "ge" or "je", except for a few lists of words for which you can remember the "rule".

For example, only 9% of the words ending in "je" sounds are actually written with "ge", and almost all of them are foreign words.

Where can I find one of these "lists of words?" - territurtle, Jul 9, 2011

Why would you want such a list? - lazarus1907, Jul 10, 2011

Answer 3

if G is followed by e or i it takes on that soft gutteral sound the j usually makes in Spanish. Funny enough, in English it does a very similar thing with g and i,e by making the g change to a soft j sound instead of the hard g, like in general.

Am I right?

Except that there are a bunch of exceptions (e.g. margarine) in English and none in Spanish. Surprise. Surprise. - samdie, Jul 9, 2011

Answer 4

If you think about words like " geologia" and "Jale" the "G" and the " J" are so similar it is difficult to tell them apart. The only way I know to distinguish them is in the context of the word being spoken.

Not just similar, identical. - samdie, Jul 9, 2011

Answer 5

Not usually. Some similar words follow spelling patterns though.

Mensaje, Vendaje

Like in English, if you here "shun" at the end of a word you know it is spelled "tion"

Construction, Alternation