Written by Maria Fernandez

There are only four consonants in Spanish that can be doubled:

Here are four examples. Click on them to hear them said by native speakers:

traducción camello innato horrible

translation camel innate horrible

Compare the pronunciation of these four double consonants with the single consonants:

distancia banco gasolina concentrar

distance bank gasoline concentrate

Notice how the 'cc' sounds like a 'kc':

listen to the examples in the full version of this article

The 'll' sounds like the 'y' at the beginning or the middle of a word, and quite different from the single 'l':

listen to the examples in the full version of this article

The 'n' is the only one of these four consonants that doesn't change its sound. When saying words with a double 'n', remember that the first 'n' is shorter, but both letters are pronounced:

listen to the examples in the full version of this article

The double 'r' is one of the most difficult sounds in Spanish. It's quite different from the single 'r' and mastering it requires practice and patience. Here are two examples:

listen to the examples in the full version of this article

You can practice the pronunciation of the single and double 'c', 'l', 'n' and 'r' in the Lessons 12, 22, 23, 25 and 30 pronunciation movies.

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