Consonant Clusters

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Consonant Clusters are common in Spanish words. Most frequently Spanish words are spelled with a (consonant + vowel)(consonant + vowel) pattern. But oftentimes a (2consonant + vowel).

When a cluster has two or more letters, appear together, and you hear each sound that each consonant would normally make, the combination is called a blend.

The 6 consonants that make blends are: b, c, d, f, g, p, and t. These consonants blend with only these 2 consonants: l and r.

Following are the 13 blends more important in Spanish:

bl, which blends the /b/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /bl/ sound as in blanco and blusa
br, which blends the /b/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /br/ sound as in brazo and cabra
cl, which blends the /c/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /cl/ sound as in clavo and clima
dr, which blends the /b/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /br/ sound as in drama and dragon
fl, which blends the /f/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /f/ sound as in flaco and flauta
fr, which blends the /f/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /fr/ sound as in fresa and fruta
gr, which blends the /g/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /gr/ sound as in grande and gruta
pl, which blends the /p/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /pl/ sound as in pluma and plata
pr, which blends the /p/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /pr/ sound as in premio and prado
tl, which blends the /t/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /tl/ sound as in atleta and atlas
tr, which blends the /t/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /tl/ sound as in trazo and truco

There are 8 Consonant clusters that are not blends but they are pronounce in different syllables:

xp, as in ex·pan·dir
cc, as in re·dac·ción *
ct, as in tra·duc·tor
st, as in es·ta·cio·nar
sp, as in es·pa·ñol
nr, as in en·ri·que·cer
sm, as in es·me·rar
mp, as in em·pa·tía

* There are no real double consonants in Spanish. The "ll" and "rr" are considered a single letter each with specific pronunciation [ʤ] and [r]. The only exception to this is the presence of "cc" where the first "c" occurs at the end of a syllable and carries a [k] sound - and the second "c" begins the following syllable with an [s] sound.

There is 1 Consonant cluster in the same syllable:

ns, as in ins·ti·tu·to

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