erre
/ere/from spelling rules
The name for the letter r in Spanish is erre.
erre is used specifically to name the letter r itself.
Which one should you use?
In Spanish, the name of the letter erre is used to distinguish it from the single r sound (ere) found in words like pero.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The voiced alveolar fricative pronunciation of the letter r is prevalent in Galicia, Asturias and Leon.
How do you pronounce it?
/ere/
Did you know?
- Spanish uses the erre at the start of a word to automatically signal a trilled sound, even though it is written as a single letter.
- The trilled erre is used in Spanish 'tongue twisters', known as trabalenguas, to specifically test a speaker's agility with the sound.
- The Spanish alphabet once included the letter ch as a separate entity, and its name followed a similar pattern to erre.
Examples in context
- Para los japoneses es muy difícil articular el sonido de la erre.It is difficult for the Japanese to articulate the sound of the r.This sentence illustrates how difficult it can be for some people to articulate the sound of the erre.Tatoeba #4378072 by umano, translation #4409851 by LB
- Esa palabra tiene una erre muy fuerte.That word has a very strong r.
- No puedo pronunciar la erre correctamente.I cannot pronounce the letter r correctly.
Example conversation
Mateo and Sofía are practicing English pronunciation together.
- Mateo¿Cómo se llama esa letra en inglés?What is that letter called in English?
- SofíaSe dice erre.It is called r.
- MateoEntiendo, la erre es difícil de decir.I see, the r is hard to say.
- SofíaSí, Mateo, es un reto.Yes, Mateo, it is a challenge.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
