Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "mismo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce mismo in Spanish?

mismo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈmis.mo/. It means “same.” MEES-moh, stress on the first syllable, with a tight "ee" and a hissing s.

MEES-moh, stress on the first syllable, with a tight "ee" and a hissing s.

mismo /ˈmis.mo/

Two syllables, MIS-mo, with the weight on the first, as the default rule prescribes. All four gendered and plural forms keep it there. The word also appears as an intensifier attached to pronouns — "yo mismo", "ella misma" — and the stress placement never changes regardless of the job it is doing.

Listen: mismo

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Sound it out

mis A normal m, a tight "ee" as in "see", and a hissing s. This is the stressed beat, and the vowel must not slacken toward "ih".

mo A second m and a pure "oh". Two m sounds in a short word, separated only by the s.

Hear it in a sentence

Vivimos en la misma calle.

We live on the same street.

Listen: Vivimos en la misma calle.

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"Vivimos en la misma calle" makes the adjective feminine to match "calle", which is itself a good sound: KA-yeh, with the double l as a y and a fully pronounced final e. "Vivimos" starts with a v as a b sound, and its second v is soft between vowels.

Where English speakers slip

The s in the middle gets voiced into a z, English-style, giving "MIZ-mo" — and this is a genuinely tempting error because the s sits before a voiced m. Spanish keeps it a clean hiss in careful speech, though you will hear some native speakers soften it in fast conversation. The stressed vowel also needs tightening from "ih" to "ee", and the final o must stay rounded.