Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "la ventana" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce la ventana in Spanish?

la ventana is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /la benˈta.na/. It means “window.” lah ben-TAH-nah — it starts with a b sound, and all three a vowels stay wide open.

lah ben-TAH-nah — it starts with a b sound, and all three a vowels stay wide open.

la ventana /la benˈta.na/

Three syllables, ven-TA-na, with the weight on the second-to-last, the placement the default rule gives. The plural "ventanas" keeps it. The related "ventanilla" — a small window or a service counter — adds two syllables and shifts the beat to NI, once again second-to-last.

Listen: la ventana

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Sound it out

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

ven The v is a b sound — Spanish makes no distinction between the letters — followed by a short "eh" and a released n.

ta A dry dental t with no aspiration and a wide-open "ah", carrying the stress.

na A clean n and a third "ah", identical in quality to the stressed one.

Hear it in a sentence

La ventana está sucia.

The window is dirty.

Listen: La ventana está sucia.

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"La ventana está sucia" uses estar for the dirty state and makes the adjective feminine. "Sucia" packs its ia into one final syllable, SOO-sya, with a soft c before i. Say "está sucia" and the á links straight into the s.

Where English speakers slip

Beginners buzz the v with their teeth, producing "ven-TAH-na" with a consonant Spanish does not have — say a b instead. All three a vowels then want differentiating, with English reducing the last one into "uh". And the t must stay dry and dental; an aspirated English t in the stressed syllable is one of the most audible foreign-accent markers there is.