Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "abierto" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce abierto in Spanish?

abierto is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /aˈbjeɾ.to/. It means “open.” ah-BYEHR-toh, three beats with the ie gliding into one sound and a tapped r.

ah-BYEHR-toh, three beats with the ie gliding into one sound and a tapped r.

abierto /aˈbjeɾ.to/

Three syllables — a-BIER-to — with the stress on the second-to-last because the ie counts as one diphthong and the word ends in a vowel. This is the irregular past participle of "abrir", and the ie appears only here — the infinitive has a plain i, so the diphthong is a genuine irregularity rather than a stress-driven change.

Listen: abierto

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Sound it out

a A wide-open "ah" opening the word, unstressed but not reduced.

bier A b — softened because a vowel precedes it — then the i glides into the e as a y, closed by a single tap of the r. One beat, "byehr", and it carries the stress.

to A dental t with no puff of air and a pure "oh".

Hear it in a sentence

El banco está abierto hoy.

The bank is open today.

Listen: El banco está abierto hoy.

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"El banco está abierto hoy" uses estar, since being open is a temporary state — a bank that "es abierto" would be open by nature. Say "está abierto" and the final á merges with the opening a of the adjective into one longer vowel, es-TA-BYEHR-to. The h in "hoy" is silent.

Where English speakers slip

The ie gets pulled apart into two syllables, giving "a-bee-EHR-to", when it should be a single glide. Then the r bends the vowel backward English-style, producing "BYAIR-to". Keep the "eh" clean and flick the tongue once. The b also wants popping when it should be soft after the vowel, and the opening a wants reducing to a schwa.