Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "nosotros" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce nosotros in Spanish?

nosotros is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /noˈso.tɾos/. It means “we / us.” noh-SOH-trohs, four beats with the stress on the second and a single tapped r.

noh-SOH-trohs, four beats with the stress on the second and a single tapped r.

nosotros /noˈso.tɾos/

Three syllables, no-SO-tros, with the beat on the second. The word ends in s, so the default rule points to the second-to-last syllable — exactly where the stress falls, so no accent appears. The feminine "nosotras" works identically, and both are optional words in most sentences since the verb ending already says we.

Listen: nosotros

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Sound it out

no A clean n and a pure "oh". Unstressed, so it is quick, but the vowel must not shrink to "nuh".

so A hissing s and another pure "oh" — this one stressed, so give it length as well as volume.

tros A dry dental t, a single flick of the r, a third "oh", and a hissing s. Three identical o vowels run through this word, which is what gives it its rolling sound.

Hear it in a sentence

Nosotros vamos al cine.

We are going to the movies.

Listen: Nosotros vamos al cine.

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"Nosotros vamos al cine" includes a pronoun the verb makes unnecessary, so it is there for emphasis. "Al" is a mandatory contraction of a plus el — Spanish will not let you write "a el" — and "cine" has a soft c before i, giving SEE-neh. The v in "vamos" is a b sound, so it is BA-mos.

Where English speakers slip

The three o's are the challenge, because English can only bear to give full value to the stressed one. Speakers produce "nuh-SOH-truhs", with the first and last vowels crushed. All three should be the same rounded "oh", varying only in loudness. The r is the second issue: it is a single forward tap, not the English r that would turn "tros" into something like "trohss" with a curled tongue.