Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "pagar" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce pagar in Spanish?

pagar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /paˈɣaɾ/. It means “to pay.” pah-GAR, stressed at the end, with a soft g and no puff after the p.

pah-GAR, stressed at the end, with a soft g and no puff after the p.

pagar /paˈɣaɾ/

Two syllables, pa-GAR, weight at the end from the r ending. The verb is regular in sound but not in spelling: to keep the g hard before an e, the past tense adds a u, giving "pagué" — which also needs an accent to hold the stress on the final syllable. The u is silent, there purely to protect the consonant.

Listen: pagar

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Sound it out

pa An unaspirated p and a wide "ah". English p blows air; hold a palm to your mouth and make sure this one does not.

ga Between two vowels, the g softens — the back of the tongue rises toward the roof of the mouth without quite touching, so the air keeps flowing. It is hazier than the g in English "gap". Then a second open "ah", stressed.

r A single flick of the tongue tip to close the word.

Hear it in a sentence

¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?

Can I pay by card?

Listen: ¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?

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"¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?" is the sentence you will use most often as a traveler. "Tarjeta" contains the throaty j — tar-HEH-ta — and a tapped r in the middle. "Puedo" shows the ue stem change from "poder", packed into a single first syllable, PWEH-do.

Where English speakers slip

Most of the trouble here is aspiration: English puffs its p and hardens its g, and both habits land on this word at once. Between vowels the Spanish g should be soft and almost breathy. Both a's then want to differentiate, with English giving the first a schwa — keep them identical and open. Front-stressing to "PA-gar" is the last of the three, and the r ending is what rules it out.