Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "nuevo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce nuevo in Spanish?

nuevo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈnwe.βo/. It means “new.” NWEH-boh — two beats, with the ue gliding together and the v pronounced as a soft b.

NWEH-boh — two beats, with the ue gliding together and the v pronounced as a soft b.

nuevo /ˈnwe.βo/

Two syllables: NUE-vo, stressed on the first — the second-to-last of a word ending in a vowel, straight from the default rule. Worth noticing that the related noun "novedad" loses the ue entirely and moves the stress to the end, no-ve-DAD, because it now finishes in d.

Listen: nuevo

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Sound it out

nue An n, then the u glides straight into the e as a w. The whole thing is one beat, "nweh", and it carries the stress. Never "noo-eh".

v A b sound, and a soft one because it sits between vowels: the lips approach without meeting and the voice hums through the gap. No contact between teeth and lip anywhere.

o A pure "oh", unstressed but fully rounded and held in one position.

Hear it in a sentence

Mi vecino tiene un auto nuevo.

My neighbor has a new car.

Listen: Mi vecino tiene un auto nuevo.

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"Mi vecino tiene un auto nuevo" places the adjective after the noun, which is the neutral order — put "nuevo" before the noun and it shades toward another, different one rather than brand new. "Vecino" starts with a v as a b sound, and "auto" glides its au into one syllable: OW-to.

Where English speakers slip

Stretch the opening cluster into three syllables and you get "noo-EH-vo" — but the u is a glide, not a vowel in its own right. Then the v gets buzzed with the teeth, which no Spanish speaker does. Say a soft b instead. The final o also tends to drift toward "uh", which flattens the word's ending — Spanish keeps it rounded regardless of stress.