LingoDrop
Spanish · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "cómo" in Spanish?
KOH-moh, with a dry k and two identical pure "oh" vowels.
Two syllables, CÓ-mo, and here is the subtlety: the word ends in a vowel, so the default rule would already put the beat on the first syllable. The accent is therefore not moving the stress at all — it marks the word as an interrogative. Its twin "como", with no accent, means like or as and sounds exactly the same.
Listen: cómo
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
¿Cómo se dice esto?
How do you say this?
Listen: ¿Cómo se dice esto?
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"¿Cómo se dice esto?" is the single most useful question a learner can carry, and it uses the impersonal "se" — literally "how does one say this". The d in "dice" is dental and the c before i is a plain s, giving DEE-seh. Notice "dice esto" links the final e into the following e, so the two words share one continuous vowel.
Where English speakers slip
The two o's are the giveaway: English speakers glide the first into "oh-w" and reduce the second to "uh", giving "KOH-muh". They should be twins. On paper, the accent is what beginners forget, and it matters — "como" without it turns "how are you" into something closer to "like you are". Since the sound is identical, only the writing tells them apart.