Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ayer" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce ayer in Spanish?

ayer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /aˈʝeɾ/. It means “yesterday.” ah-YEHR, two beats — the y is a consonant here, and the r is a single tap.

ah-YEHR, two beats — the y is a consonant here, and the r is a single tap.

ayer /aˈʝeɾ/

Two syllables, a-YER, beat on the last. The word ends in r, a consonant that is not n or s, so the default rule sends the stress to the final syllable and no accent is needed. Compare "anteayer" (the day before yesterday), which stretches to four syllables but keeps the beat in the same place for the same reason.

Listen: ayer

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Sound it out

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

y A consonant here, because a vowel follows it: a firm "y" as in "yes", made with the middle of the tongue rising toward the roof of the mouth. Standing alone as a word it would be a vowel, but not here.

er A short "eh" carrying the stress, closed by a single tap of the r. Keep the vowel clean — an English r would swallow it.

Hear it in a sentence

Ayer fui al mercado.

Yesterday I went to the market.

Listen: Ayer fui al mercado.

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"Ayer fui al mercado" uses "fui", the past of ir, which is borrowed wholesale from a different verb — it is one syllable, "fwee", with the ui gliding together. "Al" is the compulsory contraction of a plus el. And "mercado" has a tapped r plus a soft d between vowels.

Where English speakers slip

Curl the r English-style and the second syllable bends into "AIR", swallowing the vowel with it. Keep a clean "eh" and add one forward flick. The opening a then wants reducing, and the y sometimes gets read as a vowel, giving "ah-ee-EHR" with three beats. It is a consonant here because a vowel follows it.