Spelling Words in Spanish with CH — Master the Sound and Spelling!

La chica china charla con el chef por la chiminea.

Whew, what a mouthful! Was that hard for you to read out loud? In English, it’s commonplace for words to make use of the letter combination “ch,” like chicken, cheese, and matches, but what about “ch” words in Spanish?

Does the “ch” spelling exist in Spanish words?

Is the pronunciation the same?

If you’re ready to learn more about (and practice, of course!) “ch” spelling words in Spanish, you’ve hit the jackpot. We will answer all of your questions about “ch” spelling words in Spanish and provide you with more than 50 examples! 

CH is a Digraph

The English language includes several digraphs, or two letters that together form one sound. Some common examples are “th,” “sh,” and, of course, “ch.” As a native English speaker, these digraphs are second nature to you. Now that you are learning a second language, especially one that has so much in common with English, it’s easy to assume that these digraphs also exist in Spanish. However, most of the digraphs in English do NOT exist in Spanish. Only three (ch, gu, and qu) are shared between the two languages. 

Pronunciation

Since the “ch” digraph is used in both Engish and Spanish spelling, it must have the same pronunciation, right? Almost. Most of the English words that include a “ch” have a hard sound: cheese, cheek, kitchen. However, some “ch” words have a soft “sh” sound: chef, machine, chalet. 
So, what sound does the Spanish spelling of “ch” have? It is only the hard “ch” sound! 

Look at the word “chef,” which is the same spelling in both languages. 

English: / shef /
Spanish: / chef /

As you can see, the Spanish spelling of “ch” is always a hard “ch” sound, even for words you may be used to pronouncing with a softer “sh” sound.

If you’re looking to improve your pronunciation, check out this blog post!

Alphabet

Now, we already classified “ch” as a digraph and not as a letter in the Spanish alphabet. If you took Spanish classes a couple of years ago, you were probably taught that the “ch,” along with the “ll,” are separate letters in the Spanish alphabet. Maybe you even took classes recently where you learned that “ch” is a letter itself! However, in 2010, the Real Academia Española officially removed these pairings of consonants from the Spanish alphabet, classifying them as digraphs, or dígrafos. (You can think of digraphs as diphthongs for consonants!) Therefore, while many Spanish alphabet activities may still include the “ch” as a separate letter, note that is not a letter, but a digraph. 

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Spelling Words in Spanish with CH

Now let’s start spelling in Spanish! Below you will find a few charts with “ch” words organized by their length. To get the most out of these Spanish spelling lists, practice spelling them out loud using the Spanish letters. To refresh your memory, check out how to say “c” and “h” in Spanish:

C: / say /
H: / ah-chay /

¡Vamos a practicar!

Words that Start with CH

4-letter words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
Chao	chow	Goodbye
El chef	chef	Chef

5-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
Chafa	cha-fah	Cheap / knock-off
La chapa	cha-pah	Sheet / panel
La chica	chee-kah	Girl
El chico	chee-koh	Boy
El chile	chee-lay	Chili / spicy pepper
Chino	chee-noh	Chinese
La choza	choh-sah	Hut
Chulo	choo-loh	Cool / cute
La chumpa	choom-pah	Bomber jacket

6-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
El champú	chahm-poo	Shampoo
La charca	chahr-cah	Pond
El charco	chahr-coh	Puddle
La charla	chahr-lah	Chat / talk
El cheque	chay-kay	Check
El chicle	cheek-lay	Gum
El chisme	cheek-lay	Gossip
La chispa	chees-pah	Spark
El chiste	chees-tay	Joke
Chocar	choh-kahr	To crash
El chorro	chohr-roh	Stream / faucet
Chupar	choo-pahr	To suck / to lick
El churro	choor-roh	Sweet dessert food

7-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
La chancla	chahn-klah	Flip-flop
Charlar	chahr-lahr	To chat
Chillar	chee-yahr	To cry / to scream
La chinche	cheen-chay	Bedbug
El chorizo	chohr-ee-soh	Sausage
El chupete	choo-pay-tay	Pacifier

8-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
La chamarra	chah-mahr-rah	Blanket / coat
El chantaje	chahn-tah-hay	Blackmail
La chaqueta	chah-kay-tah	Jacket
La chatarra	chah-tahr-rah	Junk
El chequero	chay-kair-oh	Checkbook
La chimenea	chee-main-ay-ah	Chimney

9-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
El champiñón	cham-peen-yohn	Mushroom
Chapotear	chah-poh-tay-ahr	To splash around
El chimpancé	cheem-pahn-say	Chimpanzee
El chocolate	choh-coh-lah-tay	Chocolate

Words with CH in the Middle

4-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
Ocho	oh-choh	Eight

5-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
El coche	coh-chay	Car
La ducha	doo-chah	Shower
La fecha	fay-chah	Date
La leche	lay-chay	Milk
Mucho	moo-choh	A lot / many
La noche	noh-chay	Night
El pecho	pay-choh	Chest
El techo	tay-choh	Roof

6-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
La marcha	mahr-chah	March / progress
La cuchara	coo-chahr-ah	Spoon
La lechuga	lay-choo-gah	Lettuce
La mochila	moh-chee-lah	Backpack

8-letter Words

Spanish	Pronunciation	English
El cuchillo	coo-chee-yoh	Knife
La muchacha	moo-chah-chah	Girl
El muchacho	moo-chah-choh	Boy

How to Practice with Spanish Spelling Lists

Now that you have these Spanish spelling lists, what can you do with them? Whether you are a parent, teacher, or student, you can use these lists in several different ways:

• Practice with a Partner – Pick a friend (or your student or child) and quiz each other on these “ch” words. You can start off with spelling the words using the letters in English, and then when you feel confident enough, try using the letters in Spanish. Make sure your partner is following along and checking your spelling.
• Test Yourself – A lot of the above words are everyday objects (mochila, ducha, chicle, lechuga, champú). When you see these objects, even in the middle of your daily routine, take a couple of seconds to spell out the words in Spanish. You can start by labeling them and just practicing saying the letters in Spanish, and then as you progress you can take the labels off and spell them from memory.
• Spelling Bee – Of course, there’s the spelling bee! If you are a teacher or parent, you can organize a mock spelling bee with all your students or children (and friends). If you are a student yourself, you can create a spelling quiz and test yourself, or have a friend pick words at random and see if you can spell them. 

Start Spelling!

Another option to keep practicing these words is to review them with one of our professional Spanish teachers! They are all native Spanish speakers, and they will help you pronounce each of the letters perfectly in Spanish. Try a free class today and see for yourself how they can help take your Spanish skills to the next level. In the meantime, keep practicing your spelling lists any chance you get. ¡Practica la ortografía en español!

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