Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "feliz" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce feliz in Spanish?

feliz is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /feˈlis/. It means “happy.” feh-LEES, stressed on the second syllable, with the z pronounced as a plain s.

feh-LEES, stressed on the second syllable, with the z pronounced as a plain s.

feliz /feˈlis/

Two syllables, fe-LIZ, beat at the end. The word finishes in z — a consonant that is not n or s — so the default rule puts the stress on the final syllable and no accent is needed. The plural is "felices", where the z becomes c and the beat slides back to fe-LI-ces, still second-to-last and still unmarked.

Listen: feliz

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Sound it out

fe A normal f and a short "eh" as in "bed". Unstressed, but the vowel keeps its full colour.

li A bright, forward l and a tight "ee" as in "see". This is the stressed beat.

z In Latin American Spanish the z is always a hissing "s", never the buzz of English "zoo". At the end of a word it stays crisp.

Hear it in a sentence

Estoy muy feliz hoy.

I'm very happy today.

Listen: Estoy muy feliz hoy.

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"Estoy muy feliz hoy" uses estar, framing happiness as a current state rather than a permanent trait — "soy feliz" would describe a generally happy person. "Hoy" is one syllable with a silent h, pronounced "oy", and "feliz hoy" links straight across with no break.

Where English speakers slip

Almost every reader buzzes the z on first sight, and the word arrives as "feh-LEEZ". Latin American Spanish makes every z a hiss. Then the stressed vowel gets slackened toward the "ih" of English "list" — it needs the tight "ee" of "lease". And in writing, learners often pluralize it as "felizes"; the spelling rule turns z into c before an e, giving "felices".