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Spanish · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "el pollo" in Spanish?
el POH-yoh — the double l is a y sound, so it does not rhyme with English "jolly".
Two syllables, PO-llo, beat on the first, following the default rule. The ll counts as a single consonant for syllable division. The plural "pollos" keeps it, and the diminutive "pollito" — chick — moves the beat to LLI while keeping the y sound.
Listen: el pollo
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Hear it in a sentence
Comimos pollo con arroz.
We ate chicken with rice.
Listen: Comimos pollo con arroz.
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"Comimos pollo con arroz" drops the article before both foods, which Spanish does for general quantities. "Arroz" has a trilled double r at the start of the word — since a word-initial r always rolls — and a z pronounced as a plain s: a-RROS.
Where English speakers slip
The ll is the whole problem: given an English l, the word turns into something like the sport, "POL-oh". It is a y sound. The two o vowels then want differentiating, when they should be twins. And in Argentina and Uruguay that ll becomes a "zh" as in "measure", so "PO-zho" is also authentic — but an actual l never is.