Breakdown of Hola.
Questions & Answers about Hola.
The h is silent, so you do not pronounce it.
A good basic pronunciation is:
- OH-la
More precisely, it can sound slightly different depending on the dialect:
- Central/Eastern Catalan: roughly OH-luh
- Western/Valencian Catalan: roughly OH-la
So if you say OH-la with a silent h, you will be understood.
It is the same spelling and has the same basic meaning and use as in Spanish, but the pronunciation may be a little different.
For example:
- In Spanish, the final a is clearly -a
- In some Catalan accents, especially Central Catalan, that final a is reduced and sounds more like -uh
So the word looks identical, but it may not sound exactly the same.