LingoDrop
Spanish · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la maleta" in Spanish?
lah mah-LEH-tah, three beats with a bright l and a dry dental t.
Three syllables — ma-LE-ta — with the stress on the second-to-last, which is where the default rule puts it. The plural "maletas" keeps it. The related "maletín" — a briefcase — needs an accent, because dropping the -a leaves the word ending in n where the default would stress LE.
Listen: la maleta
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Hear it in a sentence
Mi maleta pesa mucho.
My suitcase is very heavy.
Listen: Mi maleta pesa mucho.
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"Mi maleta pesa mucho" uses "pesar" for weighing, where English says is heavy. "Pesa" is stressed PE-sa with a hissed s between vowels. And "mucho" here modifies a verb, which is exactly when you use it rather than "muy".
Where English speakers slip
The t between vowels gets flapped into a d, giving "ma-LEH-da", which is the same reflex that turns English "water" into "wader". Keep it a genuine dental t. Both a vowels then want reducing, and the l wants darkening. Note also that Spanish says "pesa mucho", not "es muy pesada", for the everyday complaint.