Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "otro" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce otro in Spanish?

otro is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈo.tɾo/. It means “other / another.” OH-troh, two beats — and it never takes an article, so it is never "un otro".

OH-troh, two beats — and it never takes an article, so it is never "un otro".

otro /ˈo.tɾo/

Two syllables: O-tro, stressed on the first, as the rule for this ending requires for a vowel-final word. All four forms keep it. What is unusual about this word is grammatical rather than rhythmic: it takes no indefinite article, so Spanish says "otro café" where English says another coffee with the article built into the word.

Listen: otro

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Sound it out

o A pure "oh" opening the word and carrying the stress. The lips round once and hold; no glide toward "w".

tro A dry dental t joined immediately to a single tap of the r, then a second pure "oh". English fuses t and r into a "ch"-like sound; Spanish keeps them crisp and separate.

Hear it in a sentence

¿Quieres otro café?

Do you want another coffee?

Listen: ¿Quieres otro café?

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"¿Quieres otro café?" shows exactly that — no "un" before "otro", which is compulsory. "Quieres" has a silent u after the q and a stem change from "querer", giving KYEH-res. And "café" needs its accent to hold the stress on the final é against its vowel ending.

Where English speakers slip

The tr cluster picks up the English "ch" quality, so the word comes out "OH-chro". Keep the t dental and the r a single forward flick. The two o vowels then get treated differently, with English gliding the first and reducing the second. But the error that native speakers notice most is "un otro" — the article is never used, and adding it marks you immediately as a learner.