Silent h

/∅ (silent)/

Accent-Specific Coaching

For American Speakers

You know silent h in 'hour' and 'honest'. In Spanish, h is ALWAYS silent — every word, no exceptions. 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hacer' = 'acer', 'hospital' = 'ospital'. This is actually easy once you build the habit, because you already ignore h in some English words. The challenge is consistency — your brain sees the letter and wants to pronounce it. The letter h in Spanish is purely historical (from Latin words that once had an /f/).

For British Speakers

RP carefully preserves h in words like 'house', 'happy', 'help', which creates a strong habit to break. In Spanish, h is ALWAYS silent — every single word. 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hacer' = 'acer', 'hospital' = 'ospital'. You know this rule already from 'hour' and 'honest'; you just need to extend it to every Spanish word with h.

For Australian / NZ Speakers

Spanish h is always silent — 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hacer' = 'acer', 'hospital' = 'ospital'. Drop it completely in every word. Australian English sometimes weakens h in connected speech, which may actually help. Just be 100% consistent: no h sound, ever.

For Irish Speakers

Some Irish dialects drop h naturally in speech, which gives you a head start. In Spanish, h is always silent — extend this to every single word. 'Hola' = 'ola', 'haber' = 'aber'. Be completely consistent.

For Scottish Speakers

Spanish h is always silent — 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hacer' = 'acer'. Drop h in every word with no exceptions. Think of it as invisible: the letter is there historically but produces no sound.

For Indian Speakers

Hindi has a strong h sound (ह), and many Indian languages have aspirated consonants (kh, gh, ph), creating a very strong habit to break. In Spanish, h is ALWAYS silent — never pronounced. Suppress the aspiration instinct completely. 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hospital' = 'ospital'.

For South African Speakers

Spanish h is always silent — drop it completely in every word. 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hacer' = 'acer', 'huevo' = 'uevo'. No exceptions. Think of h as a ghost letter with no sound.

For Nigerian / W. African Speakers

Spanish h is always silent. Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa all have h sounds, so you need to consciously suppress them for Spanish. 'Hola' = 'ola', 'hacer' = 'acer'. The letter h exists in spelling only — it produces absolutely no sound.