Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "quizás" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce quizás in Spanish?

quizás is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kiˈsas/. It means “maybe / perhaps.” kee-SAHS, with the accent putting the stress at the end and the z pronounced as an s.

kee-SAHS, with the accent putting the stress at the end and the z pronounced as an s.

quizás /kiˈsas/

Two syllables, qui-ZÁS, and the accent is genuinely needed. The word ends in s, so the default rule would give "QUI-zas". The mark moves the beat to the end. There is also a variant "quizá" with no s at all, which still needs its accent because it ends in a vowel — same logic, different ending.

Listen: quizás

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Sound it out

qui A hard k with the u completely silent — that is what qu does before an i — plus a tight "ee" as in "see".

zás In Latin American Spanish the z is a plain hissing "s". Then a wide-open "ah" carrying the accent and the stress, closed by another hissing s. Two s sounds, spelled z and s.

Hear it in a sentence

Quizás llueva mañana.

Maybe it will rain tomorrow.

Listen: Quizás llueva mañana.

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"Quizás llueva mañana" uses the subjunctive "llueva" rather than the indicative "llueve", because "quizás" expresses uncertainty. That is a real grammatical consequence of the word, not an optional flourish. "Llueva" opens with the double l as a y sound and packs ue into one glide.

Where English speakers slip

The u after q gets pronounced, giving "kwee-SAS", and the z gets buzzed English-style. Neither belongs: the u is silent and the z hisses. Then the accent gets ignored, producing a front-stressed "KEE-sas". Grammatically, the subjunctive that follows is what trips up intermediate learners — "quizás llueve" is possible but says something subtly more confident.