Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "la cabeza" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce la cabeza in Spanish?

la cabeza is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /la kaˈβe.sa/. It means “head.” lah kah-BEH-sah — a soft b in the middle and a z pronounced as a plain s.

lah kah-BEH-sah — a soft b in the middle and a z pronounced as a plain s.

la cabeza /la kaˈβe.sa/

Three syllables, ca-BE-za, with the weight on the second-to-last, which is the default placement. The plural "cabezas" keeps it. Note the diminutive "cabecita" swaps z for c before an i — a spelling change that keeps the s sound looking correct while the pronunciation stays constant.

Listen: la cabeza

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Sound it out

la A bright l and a wide "ah", unstressed.

ca A hard k with no puff of air and a wide-open "ah", unstressed but fully open.

be A soft b between vowels — the lips approach without meeting and the voice hums through — plus a short "eh" carrying the stress.

za In Latin American Spanish the z is a clean hissing "s" in every position, followed by a wide-open "ah".

Hear it in a sentence

Tengo dolor de cabeza.

I have a headache.

Listen: Tengo dolor de cabeza.

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"Tengo dolor de cabeza" is how Spanish says I have a headache, using "tener" plus a noun phrase. "Dolor" ends in r, so its beat lands on the final syllable: do-LOR. Say "de cabeza" and the d softens between vowels toward a th.

Where English speakers slip

Latin American Spanish hisses every z, so buzzing this one — "ka-BEH-za" — is immediately audible. The b then gets popped when it should be soft between vowels. And the two unstressed a vowels want reducing. In Spain that z would be a th sound, but the s pronunciation you are learning is understood everywhere.