Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "corto" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce corto in Spanish?

corto is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈkoɾ.to/. It means “short (in length).” KOHR-toh, stress on the first syllable, with a tapped r and a dry dental t.

KOHR-toh, stress on the first syllable, with a tapped r and a dry dental t.

corto /ˈkoɾ.to/

Two syllables — COR-to — with the stress on the first, which is the default placement. All four forms keep the same placement. The related verb "cortar" moves the beat to the end, cor-TAR, because it finishes in r — a clean illustration of how the same stem shifts its rhythm according to what it ends in.

Listen: corto

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Sound it out

cor A hard k with no puff of air, a pure "oh", and a single tap of the r. The vowel must not be coloured by the r that follows it.

to A dental t with no aspiration and a second pure "oh", identical in quality to the first.

Hear it in a sentence

El vestido es muy corto.

The dress is very short.

Listen: El vestido es muy corto.

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"El vestido es muy corto" uses ser, treating the length as a property of the dress. "Vestido" starts with a v as a b sound and has a soft d between vowels: bes-TEE-tho. Both o vowels in "corto" should sound identical — English would glide the first and reduce the second.

Where English speakers slip

The r turns the first syllable into the English "court", with the tongue bunched backward and the vowel stretched. Spanish keeps a pure "oh" and adds one forward flick. The t then wants an English puff of air, and the final o wants reducing. Three small habits, and correcting them changes the whole texture of the word.