LingoDrop
Spanish · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "estar" in Spanish?
es-TAR, stress on the second syllable, with a dry t and a tapped r at the end.
Two syllables, es-TAR, with the beat at the end because the word finishes in r. This verb is unusual in how often its conjugated forms need written accents: "estoy", "estás", "está", "están" all keep the stress on the ending, and three of the four require a mark to hold it there against the default rule. Only "estamos" gets away without one.
Listen: estar
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
El banco está cerrado.
The bank is closed.
Listen: El banco está cerrado.
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"El banco está cerrado" is estar doing its core job — describing a temporary state rather than an essential quality. A bank that "es cerrado" would be a bank that is closed by nature, which is not what anyone means. The double r in "cerrado" is a full trill, and the accent on "está" pins the stress to the final syllable.
Where English speakers slip
English cannot start a word with "est-", so speakers insert a vowel and produce "ess-TAR" with an audible break, or worse "eh-STAR". Run the three sounds together as one unit. The t then picks up an English puff of air, which should be suppressed. The larger battle is knowing when to use this verb at all: estar covers location and temporary states, while ser handles identity and permanent qualities, and the boundary between them is one of the longest-running challenges in Spanish.