Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "el conejo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce el conejo in Spanish?

el conejo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /el koˈne.xo/. It means “rabbit.” el koh-NEH-hoh — the j is a throaty h, so it does not rhyme with English "Nej-oh".

el koh-NEH-hoh — the j is a throaty h, so it does not rhyme with English "Nej-oh".

el conejo /el koˈne.xo/

Three syllables: co-NE-jo, stressed on the second-to-last, as the rule for this ending requires for a vowel-final word. The feminine "coneja" and both plurals keep the same placement. The diminutive "conejito" adds a syllable and shifts the beat to JI, still following the same rule.

Listen: el conejo

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

el A short "eh" and a bright l, unstressed.

co A hard k with no puff of air and a pure "oh", unstressed but fully rounded.

ne A clean n and a short "eh" as in "bed", carrying the stress.

jo A raspy back-of-the-mouth sound, like the ch in Scottish "loch", followed by a pure "oh".

Hear it in a sentence

El conejo come zanahorias.

The rabbit eats carrots.

Listen: El conejo come zanahorias.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"El conejo come zanahorias" ends on a five-syllable word worth breaking down: za-na-HO-rias, with the z as a plain s, a silent h in the middle, and the ia fusing into one final syllable. The stress lands on HO, the second-to-last.

Where English speakers slip

Coming from English, the j is the letter you will get wrong: read that way it gives "ko-NEH-joe". Pull it to the back of the throat. The unstressed o vowels then want reducing, and the k wants an English puff. Note also that "conejo" has slang meanings in some countries, so it is worth using it plainly and in context.