HIATO
Un hiato is where two vowels appear together in a word but they are pronounced in different syllables e.g. creo – cre-o, emplea – em-ple-a.
DIPTONGO
Un diptongo is where two vowels appear together in a word and they are pronounced in the same syllable e.g. aqua – a-gua, Canario – ca-na-rio.
A diptongo is formed by two closed vowels or one open vowel and one closed vowel.
TRIPTONGO
Un triptongo is where three vowels appear together in a word and they are pronounced in the same syllable e.g. estudiáis – est-udi-áis, limpiáis – lim-pi-áis.
The middle vowel will be open and the other two will be closed.
Open vowels – Vocales abiertas a,e,o.
Closed vowels – Vocales Cerradas i,u