Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "hola" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce hola in Spanish?

hola is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈo.la/. It means “hello / hi.” OH-lah. The h is completely silent — the word starts on the vowel.

OH-lah. The h is completely silent — the word starts on the vowel.

hola /ˈo.la/

Two syllables, HO-la, with the beat on the first. The word ends in a vowel, so the default Spanish rule puts stress on the second-to-last syllable, and no written accent is needed to say so.

Listen: hola

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Sound it out

h Silent, always. Spanish h never makes a sound anywhere in any word; it is pure spelling history. Begin the word on the vowel with no puff of breath.

o A single pure "oh", short and steady. English speakers glide this vowel toward a "w" at the end ("oh-w"); Spanish holds one unchanging position from start to finish.

la A light "l" with the tongue tip just behind the top teeth, then a wide-open "ah" as in "father" — never the "uh" of English "sofa".

Hear it in a sentence

Hola, ¿cómo estás?

Hello, how are you?

Listen: Hola, ¿cómo estás?

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"Hola, ¿cómo estás?" shows two things at once. The upside-down question mark tells you the rising pitch starts there, not at "hola" — the greeting stays flat and friendly. And "cómo" carries a written accent that has nothing to do with sound placement rules: it marks the word as a question word rather than the "como" meaning "like" or "I eat".

Where English speakers slip

The h is the obvious trap — English "hello" and "hi" train the breath to come out first, and "HOH-la" instantly marks you as a beginner. Less obvious, and far more common among people who already know to drop the h, is what happens to the final a. English reduces unstressed final syllables to a lazy "uh", turning the word into "OH-luh". That last vowel must stay a full, open "ah" — quieter than the stressed one, but the same shape.