Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "entonces" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce entonces in Spanish?

entonces is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /enˈton.ses/. It means “then / so.” en-TOHN-sehs, three beats — the c before e is an s, so it hisses twice.

en-TOHN-sehs, three beats — the c before e is an s, so it hisses twice.

entonces /enˈton.ses/

Three syllables, en-TON-ces, beat on the second-to-last. The word ends in s, so the default rule handles it without an accent. As an adverb it never changes form, and the s at the end is permanent — there is no singular "entonce".

Listen: entonces

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Sound it out

en A short "eh" as in "bed" and a released n. Unstressed but fully formed.

ton A dental t with no puff of air, a pure "oh" carrying the stress, and a second n.

ces Before an e, the c is a plain "s", then a short "eh" and a final hissing s. Two identical hisses, spelled two different ways.

Hear it in a sentence

Entonces, ¿qué hacemos?

So, what do we do?

Listen: Entonces, ¿qué hacemos?

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"Entonces, ¿qué hacemos?" uses the word as a discourse marker opening a question, which is one of its commonest jobs — closer to English so or well than to then. "Hacemos" has a silent h and a soft c before e: a-SE-mos. The whole phrase links across the comma without a real pause in speech.

Where English speakers slip

Harden the c into a k and you get "en-TON-kes", the standard reading for anyone who has not absorbed that c before e is an s. Both s sounds then get voiced into z's. And the three unstressed vowels want reducing into a mumble — this is a long enough word that English instinct crushes everything except the stressed syllable, when Spanish keeps all three clear.