Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "el amigo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce el amigo in Spanish?

el amigo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /el aˈmi.ɣo/. It means “friend (m.).” e-lah-MEE-goh — the article links into the vowel, and the g is soft.

e-lah-MEE-goh — the article links into the vowel, and the g is soft.

el amigo /el aˈmi.ɣo/

Three syllables — a-MI-go — with the stress on the second-to-last, the placement the default rule gives. The plural "amigos" keeps it there, and covers a mixed group of friends by the usual masculine-default convention. The diminutive "amiguito" inserts a u to protect the hard g sound before an i, and moves the beat to QUI.

Listen: el amigo

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Sound it out

el A short "eh" and a bright l. Since the noun starts with a vowel, the l carries straight over: the phrase is heard as e-la-MI-go, one continuous run.

a A wide-open "ah", unstressed but at full value.

mi A normal m and a tight "ee" as in "see", carrying the stress.

go A g softened by the vowels around it — the back of the tongue rises toward the roof of the mouth without touching — plus a pure "oh".

Hear it in a sentence

Él es mi mejor amigo.

He's my best friend.

Listen: Él es mi mejor amigo.

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"Él es mi mejor amigo" uses the accented "él" as a pronoun, distinguishing it from the article "el" that heads this entry. "Mejor" is stressed on the final syllable because it ends in r, and its j is the throaty back-of-mouth sound: meh-HOR. Say "mejor amigo" and the tap links into the a.

Where English speakers slip

Half the work here is the g: hardened into the plosive of "go" it sounds foreign, and softening it between vowels does more for your accent than almost any other single change. The opening a then wants reducing to a schwa, and the final o wants the same treatment. Both should stay full, differing from the stressed syllable only in volume.