Spanish Words Starting with C

There are 15,304 Spanish words starting with C, which makes it one of the largest letters in the language.

C Has Two Different Sounds

Before A, O and U it is a hard K sound, as in CASA and COMIDA. Before E and I it softens, to a TH in most of Spain and an S across Latin America.

That split explains the shape of this page. O and A together take sixty seven percent of the second position, because the hard sound is far more productive.

CH Was Once Its Own Letter

CH counted as a separate letter of the Spanish alphabet until 1994 and still works as a single sound. It takes about six percent of the page.

Words like CHICO and CHOCAR belong to it, and they were once alphabetised after all the other C words rather than among them.

Common C Words Across the Branches

CALLE, CABEZA, CORAZÓN, CUERPO and CIELO reach four different second letters and cover both the hard and the soft sound.

• Calle
• Cabeza
• Corazón
• Cuerpo
• Cielo

Working Through a Page This Large

Fifteen thousand entries is too many to read in order. Splitting by second letter gives you CO and CA as two large groups and CH, CR and CU as smaller ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does C sound different in CIELO and CASA

Spanish inherited the split from Latin. Before E and I the sound softened over centuries, while before A, O and U it stayed hard.

Is CH still a letter of the alphabet

Not since 1994, when the Royal Spanish Academy stopped listing it separately. Words spelled with CH are now alphabetised under C.

How do I write the hard C sound before E or I

With QU, as in QUESO and QUINCE. That is why Spanish has no native words opening CE with a K sound.