Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "decir" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce decir in Spanish?

decir is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /deˈsiɾ/. It means “to say / to tell.” deh-SEER, with the stress at the end and a c that sounds like s.

deh-SEER, with the stress at the end and a c that sounds like s.

decir /deˈsiɾ/

Two syllables, de-CIR, stressed on the last because the word ends in r. Conjugation scatters the beat all over the place: "DI-go", "DI-ces", "de-CI-mos", and the past "DI-jo". Worth noticing that the vowel in the stem changes too — e becomes i in most forms — so this verb is irregular in both spelling and rhythm.

Listen: decir

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Sound it out

de A dental d — tongue against the upper front teeth — plus a short "eh". Softer and lighter than an English d.

ci Before i, c is a plain "s". The vowel is a tight "ee" as in "see", and it carries the stress.

r A single flick of the tongue tip at the very end. One tap, no trill, and no lengthening of the vowel before it.

Hear it in a sentence

Quiero decirte algo.

I want to tell you something.

Listen: Quiero decirte algo.

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"Quiero decirte algo" attaches the pronoun to the end of the infinitive, which Spanish does whenever an infinitive follows another verb. That extra syllable shifts nothing — the stress stays on CIR, giving de-SEER-teh. And "decirte algo" links the final e into the a of "algo", so the phrase runs without a break.

Where English speakers slip

Reach for the hard value of c and you land on "deh-KEER", which is what almost every English reader produces on first sight. Before e or i, Spanish c is always an s. The second slip is the stress, pulled forward to "DEH-sir" by English rhythm, and the third is the r, which gets the English curl and turns the ending into "seer" with a long American r. It should be a light tap that leaves the "ee" untouched.