Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "morir" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce morir in Spanish?

morir is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /moˈɾiɾ/. It means “to die.” moh-REER, stressed at the end, with two single taps and a pure "oh" at the front.

moh-REER, stressed at the end, with two single taps and a pure "oh" at the front.

morir /moˈɾiɾ/

Two syllables, mo-RIR, beat at the end thanks to the r. Stem-changing in an unusual way: under stress the o becomes ue in MUE-ro and MUE-res, and in the past it goes further and becomes u, as in mu-RIÓ. The past participle "muerto" keeps the ue and doubles as the adjective meaning dead.

Listen: morir

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Sound it out

mo A normal m and a pure "oh" with the lips held steady. Unstressed, and it must not drift toward "muh".

ri A single tap of the tongue tip — not a trill, since this r sits between vowels — then a tight "ee" carrying the stress.

r A second single tap to close the word.

Hear it in a sentence

Las flores se mueren sin agua.

Flowers die without water.

Listen: Las flores se mueren sin agua.

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"Las flores se mueren sin agua" adds a reflexive "se", which Spanish often uses with this verb to make the dying feel more immediate or complete. "Mueren" is two beats, MWEH-ren, with the ue as a single glide. And "agua" is feminine despite taking "el" in the singular — here in a prepositional phrase it needs no article at all.

Where English speakers slip

"Muh-REER" is the usual result: a schwa where the opening o belongs, and a slack "ih" where the stressed vowel should be tight. Keep the o rounded and the i tight. Both r's are single taps, so avoid rolling the first one — trills belong to rr and to word-initial r, and this word has neither. In conjugation, "moro" instead of "muero" is the usual slip.