Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "el hijo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce el hijo in Spanish?

el hijo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /el ˈi.xo/. It means “son.” el EE-hoh — silent h at the front and a throaty h in the middle, from the j.

el EE-hoh — silent h at the front and a throaty h in the middle, from the j.

el hijo /el ˈi.xo/

Two syllables, HI-jo, beat on the first, which is where the default rule puts it for a vowel-final word. The plural "hijos" keeps it and means children by the masculine-default convention — so "tengo dos hijos" could be two sons or a son and a daughter.

Listen: el hijo

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Sound it out

el A short "eh" and a bright l. Because the noun opens on a silent h, the article links straight into the vowel: e-LEE-ho.

h Silent. The word begins on the vowel with no breath — which is exactly the opposite of what the j will do two letters later.

i A tight "ee" as in "see", carrying the stress.

jo The j is a raspy sound made at the back of the mouth, like the ch in Scottish "loch". Then a pure "oh".

Hear it in a sentence

Su hijo tiene tres años.

Her son is three years old.

Listen: Su hijo tiene tres años.

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"Su hijo tiene tres años" gives an age using "tener", the Spanish way — you have three years. "Años" needs its ñ as one fused sound. And "su" is ambiguous between his, her, their and your, which is why Spanish speakers add "de ella" when precision matters.

Where English speakers slip

This word contains both a silent h and a throaty j, and English readers regularly swap them — voicing the h and softening the j into an English j, producing "HEE-joe". Neither is right. Start on the vowel, and put the rasp at the back of the throat where the j is. Getting this one word right teaches both halves of the h-versus-j rule at once.