Sound contrast · Mexican Spanish; starter contrasts also occur widely elsewhere
Spanish /a/ vs /u//a/ versus /u/
Learn to hear the difference between a and u in Spanish words.
Practice these sounds/a/
The a category
Listen for the target sound in each word.
As inmasa
/u/
A back, rounded vowel
The tongue is high and farther back, with rounded lips.
As insuma
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
Learn to hear the difference between a and u in Spanish words.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each wordmasa
/ˈmasa/doughpala
/ˈpala/shovelcasa
/ˈkasa/housecama
/ˈkama/bedpato
/ˈpato/duckmano
/ˈmano/handpalo
/ˈpalo/sticksuma
/ˈsuma/sumcuna
/ˈkuna/cradleluna
/ˈluna/moonruta
/ˈruta/routepuro
/ˈpuɾo/pure, masculine adjectivetubo
/ˈtubo/tubecubo
/ˈkubo/bucket14 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.