Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ella" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce ella in Spanish?

ella is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈe.ʝa/. It means “she / her.” EH-yah — the double l is a y sound, so this is nothing like the English name Ella.

EH-yah — the double l is a y sound, so this is nothing like the English name Ella.

ella /ˈe.ʝa/

Two syllables: E-lla, stressed on the first — the default for a word ending in a vowel. The "ll" counts as a single consonant when splitting syllables, which is why the break comes before it rather than between the two l's, the way English would divide "Ella".

Listen: ella

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Sound it out

e A short, open "eh" as in "bed", carrying the stress. The word begins on the vowel with no consonant in front of it.

ll One sound, not two. Across most of Latin America this is a firm "y" as in "yes", made with the middle of the tongue pressed toward the roof of the mouth. In Argentina and Uruguay it becomes the "zh" of "measure"; nowhere does it sound like an English l.

a A wide-open "ah", unstressed but at full value. This ending is what marks the pronoun feminine.

Hear it in a sentence

Ella habla tres idiomas.

She speaks three languages.

Listen: Ella habla tres idiomas.

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"Ella habla tres idiomas" starts with a subject pronoun that Spanish could easily drop, so its presence signals contrast — she, as opposed to someone else. "Habla" has a silent h, so "ella habla" glides across as EH-ya-AB-la. "Idiomas" is three beats, i-DIO-mas, with the io fusing into a single syllable.

Where English speakers slip

The English name Ella is the false friend that does the damage, giving "ELL-uh" with a real l and a reduced final vowel. Both halves are wrong: the ll is a y, and the final a stays open. Learners also occasionally over-correct by pronouncing two separate y sounds, "eh-y-ya" — it is one smooth consonant, not a doubled one.