" 'g' letter pronunciation variations in Spanish"

Question

Why do some "g" letters in Spanish (Portugués, Agua, Inglaterra) sound different then other "g" letters in Spanish (Jorge, Argentina, Ruge)?

Answer 1

It depends what letters follow the g. It would be difficult to pronounce them all in the same way and as you know in Spanish particularly in some verb conjugations the spelling alters to maintain the integrity of the sound. We actually went through the pronunciation in our class last month. Try this:

audio and note re G

In case it is not clear the above link sets out that 'Si es seguida por "a", "o" or "u", se pronuncia como una "g" en gato' 'Si es seguida por "e" or "i", se pronuncia igual que una "j". ' y como se pronuncia "gue" y "gui" y "güe" y "güi". Hay audio allí.

:) - rac1, Jan 30, 2014

Thank you so much, really helpful :) - Turkson, Feb 2, 2014

Answer 2

G followed by a/o/u = English hard G sound

G followed by e/I = English hard H sound

Oh I see, thanks :) - Turkson, Feb 2, 2014