When is "g" sounded in Spanish

Question

For example: I used originalmente and professor said I should not have pronounced the "g".

But in llegar, you do hear the "g" sound.

firmado,

Confundido

Answer 1

"g" is pronounced [g] when followed by a consonant or by vowels a, o, u (although the u is not pronounced unless it has a dieresis ü, then it's pronounced as "we" )

i.e. lograr llegar lago guerra vergüenza

Also, note that "g" is pronounced more softly between vowels.

"g" is pronounced [h] when followed by e, i

i.e. originalmente legendario

Also, here's a really great site to practice Spanish phonetics! http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/

Thanks for explanation and new website to look at. - RachelC, Jun 9, 2012

Answer 2

I just wanna say that either your professor doesn't speak Spanish very well or you paraphrased him incorrectly. The "g" is not silent in "originalmente"; it's just a different sound from the English "g". Namely, here it's the same as the Spanish "j" (as in jardín, monja, etc). It's not like "h", which is silent in Spanish (almohada, horno, zanahoria).

As for the rules about where it's pronounced g and where it's j, I'll let an expert do their job.

I paraphrased incorrectly... Thank you. I meant to say it was pronounced like H. - RachelC, Jun 9, 2012

Ha... I see you paraphrased YO incorrectly. I said above the G was not pronounced...NOT that it was silent...just for the record. Cheers - RachelC, Jun 9, 2012

Just for the record, silent = not pronounced. :) But let's not split hairs. :P - inkubzz, Jun 10, 2012

ok.. ;) - RachelC, Jun 10, 2012