Sometimes the letter d is omitted in colloquial Spanish
In colloquial spoken Spanish the letter D is sometimes omitted in conversation.
Past Participles
The letter -d- is often not pronounced when it is located between two vowels, which is the case of most past participles as they usually end in -ado [pronounc: ao] and -ido [pronounc: ío]. This pronunciation is common in many areas in Spain and Latin America. For example:
Some nouns and adjectives
The -d- between two vowels at the end of the word of some nouns is also sometimes not pronounced.
Some words that end in -d
It is also very common to omit the -d when it is at the end of a word. For example:
In Madrid and the very central areas of Spain, in these cases, they tend to pronounce that final -d as a -z. For example:
It is important to remember that this aspect of colloquiallism/accent in Spain and Latin America is accepted in spoken Spanish, although the R.A.E. (Royal Spanish Academy) does not recommend it, in particular when participles are pronounced -ío.
Omitting the letter -d- is not acceptable in written Spanish, only in conversation. However, it's very important to mention that there are certain words (more specifically nouns) that are included without the letter -d- in the dictionary and are exclusively used to define words relating to Andalusian culture that are part of the Flamenco vocabulary. These words are correctly used without writing the letter -d- and, in fact, they would look and sound very odd if used with the letter -d. These words are:
- el tablao (flamenco stage)
- el cantaor (male flamenco singer)
- la cantaora (female flamenco singer)
- el bailaor (male flamenco dancer)
- la bailaora (female flamenco dancer)
- el tocaor (male flamenco guitarist)
- la tocaora (female flamenco guitarist)