Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "jugar" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce jugar in Spanish?

jugar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /xuˈɣaɾ/. It means “to play.” hoo-GAR — the j is a throaty h sound, nothing like the j in English "jug".

hoo-GAR — the j is a throaty h sound, nothing like the j in English "jug".

jugar /xuˈɣaɾ/

Two syllables, ju-GAR, weight at the end thanks to the r. This verb is unique in Spanish: it is the only one where a stressed u splits into ue, giving JUE-go and JUE-gas. Every other stem-changer works on an e or an o, which makes "jugar" a genuine one-off worth memorizing as such.

Listen: jugar

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Sound it out

j A raspy sound made at the back of the mouth, like the ch in Scottish "loch" or a heavily breathed h. The tongue arches toward the soft palate and the air scrapes past. It is never the English j of "jam".

u A pure "oo" as in "boot", short and tightly rounded.

gar A g softened by the vowels around it, then a wide-open "ah" carrying the stress, closed by a single tapped r.

Hear it in a sentence

Mi hijo juega al fútbol.

My son plays soccer.

Listen: Mi hijo juega al fútbol.

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"Mi hijo juega al fútbol" needs the preposition "a" before the sport — you play at football, not simply play football — and it contracts with "el" into "al". "Fútbol" carries an accent to hold the beat on the first syllable, since a word ending in l would otherwise take the stress at the end. "Hijo" has a silent h and a throaty j: EE-ho.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers see the j and say "JOO-gar", producing a sound that does not exist in Spanish. The fix is physical: pull the sound back to where you would make a Scottish "loch" and let it rasp. The stress then wants to sit on the front, English-style, and the r ending rules that out. Finally, "jugo" instead of "juego" when conjugating is a common slip — and confusingly, "jugo" is also a real word meaning juice.