Free guide · Level A1
How to spell your name and give your phone number in Spanish
If your surname isn't Spanish, you'll be asked to spell it letter by letter: at a hotel, at the doctor's, on the phone with the bank. It's a very specific situation and an easy one to master.
The letters that cause the most trouble
Every letter has a fixed name, and these are the ones that take the most getting used to.
h → hacheIt's never pronounced inside a word, but it does have a name
j → jotaA throaty sound
q → cuIt's called «cu», not «que»
w → uve dobleTwo words
y → i griegaTo tell it apart from the Latin i
Be de Barcelona, uve de Valencia
Be (b) and uve (v) sound almost the same when you spell. That's why Spaniards clarify with a city, and you can do the same.
Be de Barcelona.The letter b
Uve de Valencia.The letter v
¿Be de Barcelona o uve de Valencia?To ask which of the two it is
The email address
You need three symbols: arroba (@), punto (.) and guion bajo (_).
ana.weber@correo.deAna punto weber arroba correo punto de e
The phone number: in groups, not digit by digit
In Spain mobile numbers have nine digits and are said in groups: the first three on their own, then in pairs.
612 34 56 78Seis, uno, dos, treinta y cuatro, cincuenta y seis, setenta y ocho
Watch out for thisWhen you're nervous, the English letter names slip out: «ay, bee, see». Learn the Spanish names as a set, and remember the vowels always sound like the ones in «casa, mesa, vino, ocho, luna». And say the phone number in groups: digit by digit is understood, but it sounds foreign and is harder to write down.
When you don't understand
¿Puedes repetir, por favor?Can you repeat that, please?
Más despacio, por favor.More slowly, please
¿Cómo se escribe?How do you spell it?
¿Me lo deletreas?Can you spell it for me?