Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "necesitar" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce necesitar in Spanish?

necesitar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ne.se.siˈtaɾ/. It means “to need.” neh-seh-see-TAR, four beats with the stress at the very end and three s sounds.

neh-seh-see-TAR, four beats with the stress at the very end and three s sounds.

necesitar /ne.se.siˈtaɾ/

Four syllables, ne-ce-si-TAR, beat at the end because of the r. Regular, so the present tense pulls the stress to the second-to-last syllable of each form: ne-ce-SI-to, ne-ce-SI-tas. Long as it is, the word never needs an accent anywhere in its conjugation — the default rule handles every form.

Listen: necesitar

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Sound it out

ne A clean n and a short "eh" as in "bed", unstressed but fully formed.

ce Before an e, c is a plain "s" in Latin American Spanish. Another short "eh" follows, identical to the first.

si A hissing s and a tight "ee". Three of the word's four syllables begin with an s sound, spelled two different ways.

tar A dry dental t, a wide-open "ah" carrying the stress, and a single tapped r.

Hear it in a sentence

Necesito ayuda, por favor.

I need help, please.

Listen: Necesito ayuda, por favor.

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"Necesito ayuda, por favor" pairs the verb with a noun, and "ayuda" is stressed a-YU-da with the y as a consonant like the y in "yes". Note that "necesitar" takes a direct object with no preposition — you need help, not need of help. Say "necesito ayuda" and the o links straight into the a.

Where English speakers slip

Four syllables is a lot for English to keep at full value, so speakers crush the middle two into "nuh-suh-si-TAR". Every vowel here is clear: eh, eh, ee, ah. The c before e also gets hardened into a k by some readers, giving "ne-KE-si-tar". And unlike the English "necessitate", the stress goes on the last syllable, not the first.