The Spanish r

Both Spanish r sounds are made at the front of the mouth, with the tip of the tongue at the alveolar ridge. For the tap [ɾ], the tongue tip strikes the ridge only once, briefly. For the trill [r], it rests loosely at the ridge and is set vibrating by the airstream, so that several rapid contacts occur. In Standard German, by contrast, the r is often produced further back, at the uvula.

Between vowels, the two sounds distinguish words, and the spelling makes this visible: a single ⟨r⟩ stands for [ɾ], ⟨rr⟩ for [r] – pero and perro, caro and carro.

At the beginning of a word there is no such contrast. There, a single written ⟨r⟩ usually stands for the trill, for example in reloj [reˈlox].

In Standard German, the r is usually produced at the back: as a uvular fricative [ʁ] at the uvula, not with the tip of the tongue. Regionally, however, German also has r sounds produced at the front. Anyone who transfers the back habit may sometimes pronounce an initial r, as in reloj, further back instead of as the trill [r].

Reír begins and ends with an r. German-speaking learners may sometimes carry over two habits here: a back r at the beginning of the word and a vocalised one at the end. Here, the focus is on the beginning of the word; the end of the word is treated in more detail on the topic page The r at the End of a Word.

Even the recordings of caro and carro show it: two speakers do not realise the same r in exactly the same way. Moreover, the Spanish-speaking world has further regional realisations of the r, which the digital textbook presents with listening examples (in German). Not every deviation from a single reference model is therefore a pronunciation error. For teaching, what matters first is that the tap and the trill are told apart and that the tip of the tongue works at the front, at the alveolar ridge.