Rr rr — erre doble
«erre doble» is a digraph of Spanish, the “The Spanish Latin alphabet” script, read as “rolled rr”. A long rolled r — the tongue flutters several times. For example, in the word “perro” — dog. The Spanish alphabet has 30 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It distinguishes meaning: 'caro' — expensive, 'carro' — cart. A word-initial single r sounds the same. It appears, for example, in the word “cerrado” — closed (sign).
In short
| Character | Rr rr |
| Name | erre doble |
| Sound | rolled rr |
| What it is | a digraph |
In our course the character comes 30th of 30: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, before it comes ll, appears in 114 words of this site.
How it sounds
A long rolled r — the tongue flutters several times
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- perrodog
The character in the “a letter of its own and three combinations” group
ñ is the only letter Latin does not have by default. ch, ll and rr stopped being letters in 2010 but stayed sounds.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «erre doble» it is “rolled rr”, as in the word “perro”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 30 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Spanish character rr read?
As “rolled rr” — it is a digraph of the “The Spanish Latin alphabet” script. A long rolled r — the tongue flutters several times. For example, in the word “perro” — dog.
What is the letter rr called?
Erre doble. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Spanish script: it is called “erre doble” and reads as “rolled rr”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can rr be confused with?
It distinguishes meaning: 'caro' — expensive, 'carro' — cart. A word-initial single r sounds the same. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.