Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "el autobús" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce el autobús in Spanish?

el autobús is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /el au.toˈβus/. It means “bus.” el ow-toh-BOOS, three beats — the accent holds the stress on the final syllable.

el ow-toh-BOOS, three beats — the accent holds the stress on the final syllable.

el autobús /el au.toˈβus/

Three syllables, au-to-BÚS, and the accent is doing real work. The word ends in s, so the default rule would give au-TO-bus. The mark pushes the beat to the end. The plural "autobuses" drops the accent entirely, because the added syllable puts the default stress on BU where it belongs.

Listen: el autobús

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Sound it out

au A single gliding vowel, starting at "ah" and closing toward "oo", like English "how". One beat, not two.

to A dental t with no puff of air and a pure "oh". Do not flap the t into a d.

bús A soft b between vowels, then a pure "oo" as in "boot" carrying the accent and the stress, closed by a hissing s.

Hear it in a sentence

El autobús pasa cada hora.

The bus comes every hour.

Listen: El autobús pasa cada hora.

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"El autobús pasa cada hora" uses "cada", which never changes form, and "hora" with its silent h — so "cada hora" runs as KA-da-O-ra. "Pasa" is stressed PA-sa with two wide-open a vowels and a hissed s between them.

Where English speakers slip

The English "autobus" and "bus" both pull the stress forward, giving "AU-to-bus", which the accent explicitly forbids. The au then gets split into two syllables and the b gets popped when it should be soft. Regionally, plenty of speakers shorten this to "bus", "camión" in Mexico, or "colectivo" in Argentina — but "autobús" is understood everywhere.