4 is given its old pronunciation with two syllables: 'fower' (rhymes with 'lower'), to avoid confusion with the word 'for'. 3 and 000 are pronounced like 'tree' and 'tousand', since the English 'th' sound is difficult for many people. The pronunciation of some digits is different from English. These may be read hundred and thousand (1300: one three hundred), though reading them out individually is also correct (1300: one three zero zero – but not as 'one thousand three hundred', because the code word thousand means that there is a triple '000' in the text). An exception occurs when '00' or '000' appears in a number. For instance, '13' is read as the two digits one three, not as the number thirteen.

Like letters in words, each digit of a number is read out individually. Numbers also have code words, but these are very close to the normal English names.

These are the R's that are not pronounced in British English. The R's in these two words, as well as at the ends of several other code words, do not need to be pronounced. Two of the code words have a second pronunciation: charlie for 'C' may be pronounced with a French 'ch' sound (an English 'sh' sound: ), and uniform for 'U' may be pronounced without the 'y' sound that occurs in that word in English ( ). The pronunciations of the code words are given in the International Phonetic Alphabet. When this flag appears alone on board a ship, it means Man Overboard.īelow are the symbol flags and NATO code words for each letter of the alphabet. There have been many different spelling alphabets over time, but the NATO alphabet is the most commonly used around the world.īetween ships at sea, signal flags are used to stand for letters in order to spell out words.Īlphabet Symbol flag for the letter 'O', spelled out loud by saying ' Oscar'. For this reason it is also called a 'spelling alphabet'. (Each code word begins with the letter that it stands for.)Īlthough it is commonly called a 'phonetic alphabet', it is not used for phonetics as the International Phonetic Alphabet is. The NATO code words 'papa' and 'bravo' are much clearer. For instance, it may be difficult to hear whether a person is saying the letter 'pee' (P) or 'bee' (B). This is important for accuracy in the military and in air travel and shipping. They are used to spell words when people speak over the radio or telephone, when people from different countries are speaking with different accents, or in other situations where people may not clearly hear the normal names of the letters.

The NATO phonetic alphabet is a set of code words for the letters of the Latin alphabet. However, in place and person names (especially those from Mexico), it can be pronounced like a raspy English h, an s, or even the sh in English show.Not to be confused with International Phonetic Alphabet or Phoenician alphabet. The equis is usually pronounced like the ks in English socks. A single erre at the beginning of a word is also trilled. When two erres appear together, they are trilled (the sound you make when you roll your tongue). When two eles appear together, they can be pronounced like the y in English yellow, the j in English judge, or the sh in English show, depending on what country you're in. When ce comes before hache, it's pronounced like the ch in English cheese. When ge comes before i or e, it's pronounced like a raspy English h.īefore other vowels ( a, o, u), it's pronounced like the g in English good. Let's take a look at some of the trickier combinations. While the majority of the letters in Spanish are always pronounced the same way, there are a few whose pronunciation changes depending on the letters with which they combine. How Do You Pronounce the Spanish Alphabet?

English alphabet spelling letters