Cuban Spanish

The official and national language of Cuba is Spanish, which virtually all of the population speaks. Cuban Spanish is close to Puerto Rican Spanish and the Spanish spoken in the Dominican Republic, but has special characteristics which make it easily identifiable. In addition, there are internal differences: The Spanish spoken in Havana in the northwest is noticeably different from the Spanish spoken in Santiago in the east. There is also a difference (as there is in any language) between formal and informal Cuban Spanish: In formal Spanish, for example, the s's in the phrase Hasta la vista ('So long') are pronounced, but in informal Cuban Spanish, those s's are likely not to be pronounced.

The relationship between formal written Spanish and educated spoken Spanish is parallel to the same relationship in American English. In both Spanish and English there is a recognized "correct" way to spell and punctuate. Pronunciation, however, can vary considerably and still be considered "correct": Consider the differences in spoken English among the recent American presidents. So while there is a single written Spanish that all Spanish speakers recognize as correct, "correct" spoken Spanish can vary widely: The pronunciation of an educated Cuban is no more or less "correct" than the pronunciation of an educated Spaniard or Colombian or any other educated native speaker of Spanish.

Cuban Spanish differs from other dialects of Spanish mostly in pronunciation. Below, we have listed each of the letters of the alphabet (with a couple of additions) and then described its Cuban pronunciation. Note that all Spanish spellings are in italics (e.g., b), and all sounds are represented in square brackets (e.g., [b]).

Letter Sound

a [a] as in English song.

b [b] or [v] or [w]. Does not occur at the ends of words.

c Like English, it is pronounced [s] before i and e, (centavo, hacienda) and [k] before a, o, or u (Cuba, Castro)

ch [ch] as in chin. Does not occur at the ends of words.

d [d] or [th] as in English either. Does not occur at the ends of words.

e [e] as in English bed.

f [f]. Some Cubans will pronounce f as [h], or drop it entirely, at the ends of syllables or words.

g [g] or [gh] (a sound which doesn't occur in English). Does not occur at the ends of words.

h [h]. Sometimes written h is not pronounced.

i [i] as in English read.

j a sound like a strong [h] that does not occur in English. It's like the [ch] in German ach or dich.

k [k]. Does not occur at the ends of words, and is pronounced slightly differently from English [k] (it might sometimes sound like [g]).

l [l].

m [m]. Some Cubans will pronounce m as [ng] (as in English sing) before another consonant or at the end of a word.

n [n]. Some Cubans will pronounce n as [ng] (as in English sing) before another consonant or at the end of a word.

ñ [ny] as in English canyon.

o [o] as in English boat.

p [p]. Does not occur at the ends of words, and is pronounced slightly differently from English [p](it might sometimes sound like [b]).

q [k].

r exactly the sound in American English ladder, technically called a 'flap r'. Some Cubans pronounce r as [l] before another consonant or at the end of a word.

rr a trilled sound. Ask a Cuban to pronounce a double r for you, and you will recognize it immediately.

s [s]. Some Cubans will pronounce s as [h], or drop it entirely, before another consonant or at the end of a word.

t [t]. Does not occur at the ends of words, and is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the front teeth, rather than the ridge behind it where English [t] is pronounced. It might sometimes sound like [d].

u [u] as in English boot.

v [v] or [w].

w [w].

x [ks].

y [y], or [j] as in English judge, or [zh] as in English pleasure.

z [z].

To get the flavor of Cuban pronunciation, find a Spanish text, and read along as a Cuban friend reads it out loud. You will quickly pick up on some of the features we have described above.

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