I always tell my students that Galician pronunciation is one of the most rewarding parts of learning the language.

If you already know some Spanish, written Galician will look very familiar to you.

However, when spoken, Galician has a distinct, beautiful melody that sits comfortably between Spanish and Portuguese.

The best news?

Galician is a phonetic language.

That means once you learn the rules of how letters sound, you can easily read and pronounce almost any word you see.

In this guide, I’ll explain everything you need to know about Galician pronunciation, starting with our famous 7 vowel sounds.

The Galician vowel system

In English, vowel sounds can be tricky. A single vowel can make many different sounds depending on the word.

Spanish is very simple because it only has 5 vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u).

Galician is right in the middle. We use the same 5 written vowel letters as Spanish, but we actually have 7 spoken vowel sounds.

That’s because the letters e and o each have two different pronunciations: an “open” version and a “closed” version. Knowing the difference between an open vowel and a closed vowel is key to sounding like a true Galician native!

How to pronounce the 7 vowel sounds

Here’s a simple breakdown of the 7 Galician vowel sounds.

To make it easy for you to practice, I’ve included the English equivalents so you can hear the sound in your head.

Sometimes, the difference between an open and closed vowel can completely change the meaning of a word! For example:

• Pola (with a closed ‘o’) means “hen”.
• Pola (with an open ‘o’) means “branch”.

Don’t worry too much about memorizing every open and closed vowel right away. As you listen to more spoken Galician, your ears will naturally start to pick up the differences.

Important consonant sounds

Most consonants in Galician sound very similar to English or Spanish. However, there are a few special letters and combinations that you need to know.

The letter X In Galician, the letter x is almost always pronounced like the English “sh” in “shoe”. It’s very common in Galician!

• Xente (people) is pronounced “shen-teh”.
• Xunta (council) is pronounced “shoon-tah”.

The letters LL Just like in Spanish, the double L (ll) makes a sound similar to the “lli” in the English word “million” or a soft “y” sound.

• Chuvia means rain, but chorar (to cry) uses the CH like in English “chair”.
• Cabalo (horse) uses a single L, but filla (daughter) uses the LL.

The letters NH This combination makes a nasal sound, very similar to the “ng” at the end of the English word “sing”.

• Unha (a/one - feminine) is pronounced “oon-ngah”.

Regional variations: geada and seseo

If you travel across Galicia, you’ll quickly notice that people in different towns pronounce things differently. It’s completely normal!

There are two major pronunciation features in Galicia that you should know about. You don’t have to use them yourself, but you’ll definitely hear them.

A geada

In standard Galician, the letter g (when next to a, o, or u) sounds hard, like the “g” in the English word “goat”.

However, in the western and southern parts of Galicia, people use something called a geada. That means they pronounce the letter g like an English h!

• Standard: Gato (cat) -> Pronounced “gah-toh”
• With Geada: Gato (cat) -> Pronounced “hah-toh”

O seseo

In standard Galician, the letters z and c (when next to e or i) are pronounced with a “th” sound, just like in Spain’s Spanish (like the “th” in “think”).

But in western coastal areas, people use o seseo. That means they pronounce the “th” sound as an “s” sound.

• Standard: Ceo (sky) -> Pronounced “theh-oh”
• With Seseo: Ceo (sky) -> Pronounced “seh-oh”

Both the standard pronunciation and these regional variations are perfectly correct and accepted. They’re a huge part of what makes Galician culture so rich!

Practice examples

Let’s put some of these sounds together! Here are a few common Galician phrases.

Read the English transliteration out loud to practice your new pronunciation skills. Notice how the x turns into an “sh” sound and the vowels are crisp and clear.

The key to mastering Galician pronunciation is simply listening and repeating. Galician speakers are incredibly warm and always appreciate hearing people speak their language.