Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "pensar" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce pensar in Spanish?

pensar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /penˈsaɾ/. It means “to think.” pen-SAR, stress at the end, with a dry p and a hissing s.

pen-SAR, stress at the end, with a dry p and a hissing s.

pensar /penˈsaɾ/

Two syllables, pen-SAR, weight at the end from the r ending. This is a stem-changing verb driven entirely by stress: when the beat lands on the stem, the e splits into ie, giving "PIEN-so" and "PIEN-sas"; when the beat moves off, the plain e comes back, as in "pen-SA-mos". The rhythm decides the spelling, not the other way round.

Listen: pensar

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Sound it out

pen An unaspirated p, a short "eh", and a fully released n. The vowel is unstressed but stays clear, not reduced toward "uh".

sa A voiceless hiss and a wide-open "ah", carrying the stress.

r One flick of the tongue tip to end the word.

Hear it in a sentence

¿Qué piensas de esto?

What do you think about this?

Listen: ¿Qué piensas de esto?

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"¿Qué piensas de esto?" shows the stem-changed form with the ie diphthong in one beat: PYEN-sas. The "de esto" pushes two e sounds together, which speakers merge into a single slightly longer vowel. And "qué" carries its accent because it is a question word, not because the stress needs moving.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers read the first syllable as their own word "pen" — flat vowel, aspirated p — and then front-stress the whole thing as "PEN-sar". Neither is right. The subtler issue arrives with conjugation: learners produce "penso" instead of "pienso", missing the stem change, which is one of the most audible beginner errors in the language because the verb is so common.