Spelling Words in Spanish with the Letter H

There is one letter in Spanish that trips up both native speakers and new learners: H. Because it is the only silent letter in Spanish, it can be quite confusing to remember which words are spelled with an H. Don’t worry! That’s why we have put together several lists for you to master spelling words in Spanish with this letter.

The Silent Helper

Before we look at some spelling words in Spanish, we need to learn more about the Spanish H. You may be wondering why a letter exists if it doesn’t make a sound. That’s a great point, but the H is a silent helper for the other letters.

• When the H follows a C, together they make a “ch” sound. (Learn more about CH spelling words in Spanish in our blog post.)
• The H at the beginning of a word can differentiate two words that sound the same. 
  • Hola and ola are pronounced the same, but the H helps us know when we are talking about a wave or saying hello.
• An H in the middle of a word often separates two vowels so that they each have a voice. When two vowels are next to each other, they often form one sound. (You can learn about this in our diphthong blog post.)
  • Vehículo – here the H separates the e from the i. If it wasn’t spelled with the H, it would be pronounced bai-coo-loh instead of bay-ee-coo-loh. 
• An H in the middle of a word also separates double vowels or two strong vowel sounds. This aids in pronunciation when reading and helps us to separate sounds and syllables correctly.
  • Albahaca and almohada are both examples of the silent H separating two strong vowel sounds. Instead of the vowels merging together (or in the case of albahaca only pronouncing 3 As instead of 4), the H reminds us to pronounce each vowel individually.
• You can also find an H in the middle of a word if a prefix comes before a base word that originally starts with H. 
  • Malhumor and deshonrar both have prefixes: mal- and des- respectively. The base words keep the H despite the additional letters.

As you can see, the Spanish H is not a useless, silent letter. It is essential for correct understanding and pronunciation. It is a silent helper.

Spelling Words in Spanish: H-

You’re now ready to start spelling words in Spanish with the silent H! Always remember to practice spelling these words out loud. This will help you memorize the Spanish letter names and commit the spelling to memory much quicker. Start with the small words and work your way up to the longer words. To get you started, here are the letter names for the most common letters in the spelling words below.

H – achay

A – ah

E – ay

I – ee

O – oh

U – oo

Also, there are several words in the spelling lists that have an accent over a vowel. To say that a letter has an accent, you can use one of the following phrases:

…con una tilde en la [letra]  …with an accent mark on the [letter]

… [letra] con tilde      …[letter] with an accent mark

HA- Words

3-letter Words
Hay	ai	There is / There are
Haz	ahs	Beam of light
4-letter Words
Hada	ah-dah	Fairy
Hado	ah-doh	Fate
Hato	ah-toh	Herd / bundle
Haya	ah-yah	Beech tree (and subjunctive form of haber)
5-letter Words
Haber	ah-bair	To have
Hábil	ah-beel	Skillful
Hacer	ah-sair	To do / to make
Hacha	ah-chah	Axe
Hacia	ah-syah	Toward
Halar	ah-lahr	To pull
Harto	ahr-toh	Fed up
Hasta	ahs-tah	Until
6-letter Words
Hábito	ah-bee-toh	Habit
Hablar	ah-blahr	To talk
Hallar	ah-yahr	To find
Harina	ahr-een-ah	Flour
Hartar	ahr-tahr	To get tired of

HE- Words

4-letter Words
Heno	ay-noh	Hay
5-letter Words
Hebra	ay-brah	Thread
Hecho	ay-choch	Fact
Heder	ay-dair	To stink
Helar	ay-lahr	To freeze
Helio	ay-lyo	Helium
Heñir	ain-yeer	To knead
Herir	air-eer	To hurt
Héroe	air-oh-ay	Hero
6-letter Words
Hebreo	ay-bray-oh	Hebrew
Helado	ay-lah-doh	Ice cream
Hendir	ain-deer	To split
Hervir	air-beer	To boil
7-letter Words
Hechura	ay-chuhr-ah	Making / workmanship
Heredar	air-ay-dahr	To inherit
Hermano	air-mahn-oh	Brother
Hermoso	air-moh-soh	Beautiful

HI- Words

4-letter Words
Hijo	ee-hoh	Son
Higo	ee-goh	Fig
Hilo	ee-loh	Thread
Hipo	ee-poh	Hiccup
Hito	ee-toh	Milestone
5-letter Words
Hielo	yay-loh	Ice
Himno	eem-noh	Hymn
6-letter Words
Hierba	yair-bah	Weed
Hierro	yair-roh	Iron
Híjole	ee-hoh-lay	Wow
Hisopo	ee-soh-poh	Cotton swab
7-letter Words
Higiene	ee-hyay-nay	Hygiene
Hinchar	een-chahr	To inflate
8-letter Words
Hipoteca	ee-poh-tay-kah	Mortgage
Hiriente	ee-ryain-tay	Hurtful
Historia	ees-tohr-yah	History, story

HO- Words

3-letter Words
Hoy	oi	Today
4-letter Words
Hoja	oh-hah	Leaf, page
Hola	oh-lah	Hello
Hora	ohr-ah	Hour, time
Hoyo	oh-yoh	Hole
5-letter Words
Hogar	oh-gahr	Home
Hondo	ohn-doh	Deep
Hongo	ohn-goh	Fungus
Honor	oh-nohr	Honor
Horno	ohr-noh	Oven
Hotel	oh-tel	Hotel
6-letter Words
Hocico	oh-see-coh	Snout
Hombre	ohm-bray	Man
Hombro	ohm-broh	Shoulder
Honrar	ohn-rahr	To honor
Horror	ohr-rohr	Horror
7-letter Words
Honesto	oh-nays-toh	Honest
Horario	ohr-ahr-yoh	Schedule
Hormiga	ohr-mee-gah	Ant
Hornear	ohr-nay-ahr	To bake
8-letter Words
Hospital	ohs-pee-tahl	Hospital

HU- Words

3-letter Words
Huy	ooi	Wow, ouch
4-letter Words
Huir	oo-eer	To flee
Humo	oo-moh	Smoke
5-letter Words
Hueco	way-coh	Hole
Hueso	way-soh	Bone
Huevo	way-boh	Egg
Humor	oo-mohr	Humor
6-letter Words
Huelga	wayl-gah	Strike
Huella	way-yah	Footprint, track
Huerto	wayr-toh	Orchard
Humano	oo-mahn-oh	Human
Húmedo	oo-may-doh	Humid
Hundir	oon-deer	To sink
7-letter Words
Huésped	ways-paid	Guest
Humilde	oo-meel-day	Humble
Huracán	oor-ah-cahn	Hurricane
8-letter Words
Huérfano	wayr-fah-noh	Orphan

Spelling Words in Spanish with H in the Middle

3-letter Words
Ahí	ah-ee	There
4-letter Words
Búho	boo-oh	Owl
Moho	moh-oh	Mold, rust
5-letter Words
Ahora	ah-ohr-ah	Now
6-letter Words
Ahogar	ah-oh-gahr	To drown
Cohete	coh-ay-tay	Rocket
7-letter Words
Adherir	ahd-air-eer	To stick, to adhere
Ahorcar	ah-ohr-cahr	To hang
Ahorita	ah-ohr-ee-tah	Right now
Ahorrar	ah-ohr-rahr	To save
Alcohol	ahl-coh-ohl	Alcohol
Anhelar	ah-nay-lahr	To desire
Inhábil	een-ah-beel	Unskillful
Rehusar	ray-oo-sahr	To refuse
8-letter Words
Albahaca	ahl-bah-ah-kah	Basil
Almohada	ahl-moh-ah-dah	Pillow
Malhumor	mahl-oo-mohr	Bad mood
Prohibir	proh-ee-beer	To prohibit
Vehículo	bay-ee-coo-loh	Vehicle
9-letter Words
Deshonrar	days-ohn-rahr	To dishonor
For an Extra Challenge
Rompehielos	rohm-pay-yay-lohs	Ice-breakers

Just Keep Spelling!

These spelling words in Spanish are a great place to start mastering letters, pronunciation, and written Spanish.  However, to take it a step further and really master Spanish spelling, try a free trial class with our expert Spanish teachers. In the live classes, you can ask them questions about the letters, pronunciation, or spelling. They will give you more exercises to practice with and make sure you completely understand each topic. Try a class today, and take the next step in becoming a Spanish master! ¡Conviértete en un maestro de ortografía en español!

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