How do you determine whether to use 'y' or 'e' for 'and'?

Question

I've noticed that 'y' is almost exclusively used, but in some cases 'e' should be used instead. I'm basing this on Duolingo so I'm not sure if it's correct, but here are some examples where it requires 'e': - Padre e hijo. - Quiero hijos e hijas. What is the rule for determining when to use 'e' as opposed to 'y'? Is it specifically when talking about family, or is it something else entirely?

Answer 1

It has to do with the sound of the word that follows the ‘and’. If the word that follows the ‘and’ starts with an ‘ee’ sound like the letter ‘i’ or ‘hi’ in Spanish, you’ll want to use ‘e’. If the word following ‘and’ starts with anything else, you’ll use ‘y’.

In your example you use ‘e’ because the ‘h’ in Spanish is silent. So the word ‘hijos’ starts with an ‘ee’ sound.

The Spanish words for ‘or’ -> ‘o’ and ‘u’ follow a similar rule.