Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de nada" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce de nada in Spanish?

de nada is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /de ˈna.ða/. It means “you're welcome.” deh NAH-thah. That middle d in "nada" is soft, almost the th of "this".

deh NAH-thah. That middle d in "nada" is soft, almost the th of "this".

de nada /de ˈna.ða/

The phrase has one real peak, on NA. "De" is a preposition and rides along unstressed, and "nada" ends in a vowel so the default rule puts its beat on the second-to-last syllable — NA-da. Nothing here breaks the pattern, so no accent marks appear.

Listen: de nada

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Sound it out

de A dental d with the tongue against the upper teeth, then a short "eh" as in "bed". Unstressed, but the vowel stays clear — not "duh".

na A crisp n and a wide "ah". This is the stressed beat of the phrase.

da Between two vowels, Spanish d softens dramatically: the tongue only brushes the teeth instead of blocking the air, giving something close to the th in "mother". So the ending sounds like "thah", not a hard "dah".

Hear it in a sentence

De nada, fue un placer.

You're welcome, it was a pleasure.

Listen: De nada, fue un placer.

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"De nada, fue un placer" literally says "of nothing, it was a pleasure" — you are dismissing the thanks rather than accepting it, which is why the phrase feels lighter than the English "you're welcome". Listen to "fue un": the vowels run together into something like FWEH-oon, with no glottal stop between the words.

Where English speakers slip

Beginners give both d's the full English treatment — tongue slamming into the ridge behind the teeth — and get a stiff "day NAH-dah". The first d is already softer than English, and the second, sitting between vowels, is barely a consonant at all. Overshooting the final vowel is the other habit: "de NAH-duh" with a reduced ending. Keep it "ah", open and unhurried.