The Shocking Truth: How Many Letters Are REALLY In The Spanish Alphabet? (It's Not 29 Anymore)

The question of "cuántas letras tiene el alfabeto" (how many letters does the alphabet have) is a common one, but the answer has fundamentally changed in the 21st century. For decades, students worldwide were taught that the Spanish alphabet contained 29 letters, including the distinct characters 'ch' and 'll'. However, as of today, December 17, 2025, that information is officially outdated.

The definitive, official, and current number of letters in the Spanish alphabet is 27. This change was formalized by the ultimate authority on the language, the Real Academia Española (RAE), in 2010. Understanding this shift is crucial for anyone learning Spanish, as it impacts everything from dictionary organization to the basic structure of the language.

The Official Count: 27 Letters and The RAE's 2010 Decision

The Real Academia Española (RAE), in conjunction with the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE), is the body responsible for regulating the Spanish language. Their decision in 2010 to standardize the alphabet brought the Spanish language in line with the conventions used by most other Romanic languages, specifically regarding compound characters.

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The current official Spanish alphabet, or abecedario, is composed of 27 letters: five vowels and twenty-two consonants. This count is universal across all Spanish-speaking countries, from Spain to Mexico, Argentina, and beyond. The alphabet is:

• a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

Notice that the letters 'k' and 'w' are included, even though they are rarely used in native Spanish words (they appear almost exclusively in loanwords, such as kilómetro or wéstern). The inclusion of the unique letter ñ (eñe) is what primarily distinguishes the Spanish alphabet from the English alphabet, which has 26 letters.

The Two 'Letters' That Vanished: Understanding Digraphs

The confusion surrounding the number of letters stems entirely from the historical status of two specific character combinations: 'ch' and 'll'.

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'CH' and 'LL' as Digraphs, Not Letters

Before the 2010 reform, the combinations 'ch' and 'll' were considered individual letters of the alphabet. This meant they were sorted as separate entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias, following 'c' and 'l' respectively. For example, a word like churro would appear after all the words starting with 'c'.

The RAE's decision officially reclassified them as digraphs. A digraph is a sequence of two letters that represents a single sound (a single phoneme). The other common Spanish digraphs are 'rr' (which has never been considered a separate letter), 'gu', and 'qu'.

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• CH (che): Represents the sound /tʃ/ (as in the English word "church").
• LL (elle): Historically represented the sound /ʎ/ (a palatal lateral approximant, as in calle). Today, in most of Latin America and parts of Spain, it is pronounced the same as 'y' (a phenomenon called yeísmo), representing the sound /ʝ/ or /j/.

By removing them from the alphabet, the RAE standardized the Spanish sorting order to match the international norm, where compound characters are not treated as independent letters. This change was implemented to simplify and harmonize the language's orthography globally.

The Crucial Distinction: Letters vs. Phonemes

To achieve true topical authority on the Spanish alphabet, one must understand the difference between the letters (the graphic symbols) and the phonemes (the distinct sounds of the language). The Spanish language is often praised for being highly phonetic, meaning its letters correspond to its sounds with remarkable consistency, but they are not a perfect one-to-one match.

The Spanish Phonemic System

While the alphabet has 27 letters, the Spanish language has approximately 24 distinct phonemes (the exact number can vary slightly depending on the dialect and linguistic analysis). This is a much smaller number of sounds than English, which has around 44 phonemes. This difference is a major reason why Spanish is considered easier to pronounce.

• Vowel Phonemes: Spanish has only 5 pure, distinct vowel sounds: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/. This is a key difference from English, where the five vowel letters can represent a dozen or more different sounds.
• Consonant Phonemes: The 22 consonant letters and the digraphs cover the remaining sounds. The letter 'c', for instance, can represent two different phonemes: a /k/ sound (before a, o, u) or a /s/ or /θ/ sound (before e, i).

The stability of the five vowel sounds is a cornerstone of Spanish pronunciation. Once a learner masters the sound of each vowel, they can pronounce nearly any Spanish word with high accuracy, regardless of regional accent.

The Unique Star: The Letter 'Ñ' (Eñe)

No discussion of the Spanish alphabet is complete without celebrating the letter 'ñ' (eñe). It is the only letter of the Spanish alphabet that originated in Spain, making it a powerful symbol of the language and Hispanic culture.

The 'ñ' represents the nasal palatal sound /ɲ/, as heard in words like mañana (morning) and niño (child). It evolved from the medieval practice of writing a double 'n' (nn), which scribes later simplified by writing a single 'n' with a small tilde (~) placed above it to indicate the original geminate (double) sound. This tilde is a vestige of the second 'n'.

The RAE’s decision to remove 'ch' and 'll' did not affect 'ñ' because it is a single character representing a unique phoneme, not a combination of two existing letters. It remains the essential 27th letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Summary of Key Alphabet Entities for Topical Authority

To master the Spanish alphabet, focus on these key entities and their roles:

The definitive answer to "cuántas letras tiene el alfabeto" is 27. The historical confusion of 29 letters is a relic of pre-2010 orthography. By understanding the distinction between letters and digraphs, and recognizing the authority of the RAE, you can confidently and accurately navigate the structure of the modern Spanish language.