Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "el verano" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce el verano in Spanish?

el verano is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /el beˈɾa.no/. It means “summer.” el beh-RAH-noh — it starts with a b sound and the r is a single tap.

el beh-RAH-noh — it starts with a b sound and the r is a single tap.

el verano /el beˈɾa.no/

Three syllables: ve-RA-no, stressed on the second-to-last, the placement the default rule gives for a vowel-final word. The plural "veranos" keeps it. Seasons in Spanish are not capitalised, and this one is masculine — as are "invierno" and "otoño", with only "primavera" going feminine.

Listen: el verano

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Sound it out

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

ve The v is a b sound, with the lips meeting gently and no teeth involved, followed by a short "eh".

ra A single tap of the tongue tip — this r sits between vowels, so no trill — plus a wide-open "ah" carrying the stress.

no A clean n and a pure "oh", unstressed but fully rounded.

Hear it in a sentence

En verano hace mucho calor.

In summer it's very hot.

Listen: En verano hace mucho calor.

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"En verano hace mucho calor" drops the article after "en", which is standard for seasons. "Hacer" is the weather verb again — it makes much heat — and "calor" is stressed on the final syllable because it ends in r. "Mucho" modifies a noun here, so it agrees in the masculine.

Where English speakers slip

Two foreign consonants land in a three-syllable word: a buzzed v and a curled r. Make the v a b and the r a single forward flick. The final o then wants reducing. Note also the weather construction: "hace calor", never "es caliente" or "está caliente".