Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "el río" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce el río in Spanish?

el río is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /el ˈri.o/. It means “river.” el RREE-oh — a rolled r to open and the accent splitting the i from the o.

el RREE-oh — a rolled r to open and the accent splitting the i from the o.

el río /el ˈri.o/

Two syllables, RÍ-o, and the accent forces a hiatus. A weak i beside a strong o would normally form a diphthong and give a one-syllable "rio"; the mark splits them and pins the stress on the i. The plural "ríos" keeps the accent for exactly the same reason.

Listen: el río

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Sound it out

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

rí A full trill, because Spanish r always rolls at the start of a word, followed by a tight "ee" carrying the accent and the stress.

o A pure "oh" standing as its own separate syllable. Without the accent on the i, these two vowels would fuse into a single gliding beat.

Hear it in a sentence

El río pasa por la ciudad.

The river runs through the city.

Listen: El río pasa por la ciudad.

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"El río pasa por la ciudad" uses "por" for movement through a space. "Ciudad" fuses its iu into one glide and stresses the final syllable because it ends in d. Say "el río" and the l links into the trill, which helps get the roll started.

Where English speakers slip

Two things at once: the initial r gets an English treatment that kills the trill, and the ío gets collapsed into one syllable, giving "ryo". Roll the r — or at least double-tap it — and give the i and o separate beats. The word is short enough that both errors are unmissable.