Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "blanco" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce blanco in Spanish?

blanco is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈblaŋ.ko/. It means “white.” BLAHN-koh, with the beat up front and a wide-open "ah" in the middle.

BLAHN-koh, with the beat up front and a wide-open "ah" in the middle.

blanco /ˈblaŋ.ko/

Two syllables, BLAN-co, stressed on the first. Ending in a vowel puts it under the default rule with no accent required. All four forms — blanco, blanca, blancos, blancas — keep the beat exactly where it is, because changing the ending between vowel and s never moves the default.

Listen: blanco

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Sound it out

bl A soft b — lips meeting loosely, not popping apart the way an English b does — running straight into a bright, forward l. No vowel sneaks in between them.

an A wide "ah" as in "father", then an n that backs into the "ng" of "sing" because a k follows. That backing happens naturally; do not fight it.

co A hard k with no puff of air, closed by a pure "oh" that does not glide.

Hear it in a sentence

Necesito una camisa blanca.

I need a white shirt.

Listen: Necesito una camisa blanca.

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"Necesito una camisa blanca" shows agreement doing visible work: "camisa" is feminine, so the adjective becomes "blanca" and the article becomes "una". Say "camisa blanca" and you get two identical unstressed a endings in a row — both must stay wide open, which is exactly what English instinct fights.

Where English speakers slip

The stressed vowel is the trouble spot. English speakers reach for the flat "a" of "bank", giving "BLANK-oh", which sounds close enough to a native ear to be understood but immediately marks you out. Spanish a is the open "ah" of "father" in every position. The b is the second thing: English pops it, Spanish lets the lips part gently with the voice already running.