Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "cuál" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce cuál in Spanish?

cuál is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kwal/. It means “which / what (of a set).” kwahl, one syllable — the ua glides together and the l stays bright.

kwahl, one syllable — the ua glides together and the l stays bright.

cuál /kwal/

One syllable, so the accent marks the interrogative rather than placing stress. The plural "cuáles" adds a syllable and keeps the accent, which now genuinely holds the beat on CUÁ against the default rule for a word ending in s. That plural is one learners forget constantly.

Listen: cuál

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Sound it out

cuá A hard k with no aspiration, then the u glides into the a as a w. One beat, "kwah", carrying the accent.

l A bright l with the tongue tip just behind the upper front teeth. English darkens a word-final l — feel what happens in "call" — and Spanish keeps it forward and light.

Hear it in a sentence

¿Cuál es tu apellido?

What's your last name?

Listen: ¿Cuál es tu apellido?

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"¿Cuál es tu apellido?" uses "cuál" where English would say what — Spanish prefers "cuál" when choosing from a set, and "qué" when asking for a definition. "Apellido" is four beats with the double l as a y sound: a-pe-YEE-do. Say "tu apellido" and the vowels link across with no break.

Where English speakers slip

Both halves of this short word go wrong: the ua splits into "koo-AL", and the l darkens at the end. But the bigger issue is choosing between "cuál" and "qué": Spanish says "¿cuál es tu nombre?" where a literal translation of what is your name would give "¿qué es tu nombre?", which sounds like you are asking for a definition of the concept of a name.