When Spanish speakers hear an English vowel or consonant sound they don’t know, they can replace it with the closest Spanish sound. Here are ten examples:
| English Word Pair | English Sounds | Common Spanish Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| bit / beat | /ɪ/ vs. /iː/ | both as /bit/ |
| full / fool | /ʊ/ vs. /uː/ | both as /ful/ |
| ship / sheep | /ɪ/ vs. /iː/ | both as /ʃip/ |
| pull / pool | /ʊ/ vs. /uː/ | both as /pul/ |
| bed / bad | /ɛ/ vs. /æ/ | both as /bed/ or /bad/ |
| luck / look | /ʌ/ vs. /ʊ/ | both as /luk/ |
| cat / cut | /æ/ vs. /ʌ/ | both as /kat/ |
| man / men | /æ/ vs. /ɛ/ | both as /men/ |
| sit / seat | /ɪ/ vs. /iː/ | both as /sit/ |
| sell / sale | /ɛ/ vs. /eɪ/ | both as /sel/ |