Two accepted pronunciations
The letter C before e/i and the letter Z sound different in Spain and in Latin America. Before a/o/u, C sounds the same everywhere. Both variants are correct; this course follows the Latin American one, because most speakers use it.
You already own half of this rule. English does the same split: hard c in cat, cot, cut; soft c in city, cent. Spanish splits C at exactly the same point. The only question is what the soft sound is.
C before a/o/u = k
Before a, o, u and before a consonant, C is a hard k, as in English cat, in every Spanish-speaking country. Before e/i, the k sound is written qu instead: que, quiero. One difference from English: the English k in cat comes with a puff of air, while the Spanish one is clean, closer to the c in scar.
casa
house
comer
to eat
cuándo
when
música
music
clase
class
C before e/i and Z - where the regions differ
In Spain, Z and C before e/i are the th of English think (tongue tip against the upper teeth, no voice), while S stays s: two separate sounds (distinción). In Latin America, the Canaries and parts of Andalusia, Z, C before e/i and S all sound the same, as s (seseo), exactly like the soft c you already say in city.
English has two th sounds: the voiceless one in think and the voiced one in this. Spanish uses only the first, so zapato in Spain starts like think, never like this.
| Word | Meaning | Spain (distinción) | Latin America (seseo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| cinco | five | thinko | sinko |
| zapato | shoe | thapato | sapato |
| cerveza | beer | therbetha | serbesa |
| gracias | thank you | grathias | grasias |
Only in Spain do some words differ by s versus th. In Latin America they are homophones, and context does the work.
casa
house
Spain: kasa
caza
hunt
Spain: katha – the same as casa in Latin America
ves
you see
Spain: bes
vez
time, occasion
Spain: beth – the same as ves in Latin America
Common words with Z
Z is almost never written before e or i; there Spanish writes C instead. You mostly meet Z before a/o/u and at the end of a word.
azul
blue
plaza
square
luz
light
marzo
March
corazón
heart
Everything together
Tengo cinco zapatos azules.
I have five blue shoes.
¿Quieres una cerveza?
Do you want a beer?
¡Muchas gracias!
Thank you very much!
La plaza es muy bonita.
The square is very pretty.
