How to Pronounce 'Recordar': Spanish Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce recordar in Spanish?

recordar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /re.koɾˈðaɾ/. It means “to remember.” rreh-kor-THAR — the opening r is a full trill, and the d in the middle is soft.

How do you pronounce "recordar" in Spanish?

rreh-kor-THAR — the opening r is a full trill, and the d in the middle is soft.

recordar /re.koɾˈðaɾ/

Three syllables, re-cor-DAR, beat at the end thanks to the r. It is a stem-changer: under stress the o splits into ue, giving re-CUER-do and re-CUER-das. That form is also a noun meaning a memory, stressed identically, so the verb and the noun are indistinguishable by ear.

Listen: recordar

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Sound it out

r At the start of a word, Spanish r is always trilled: the tongue tip sits loosely behind the upper teeth and flutters as the air passes. A single tap here would be understood but sounds noticeably off.

e-co A short "eh", then a hard k with no aspiration and a pure "oh". Both vowels are unstressed and both stay fully formed.

r This second r, sitting between a vowel and a consonant, is a single tap — a striking contrast with the trill that opened the word.

dar A soft d, brushed against the upper teeth rather than sealing them, a wide-open "ah" carrying the stress, and a third r as a light tap.

Hear it in a sentence

No recuerdo dónde lo dejé.

I don't remember where I left it.

Listen: No recuerdo dónde lo dejé.

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"No recuerdo dónde lo dejé" packs three accents' worth of information into one line. "Dónde" is accented as a question word even inside a statement, because it introduces an indirect question. "Dejé" needs its accent to hold the stress on the final é and mark the past tense — without it, "deje" would be a different form entirely.

Where English speakers slip

Three r's in one word, and English speakers give all three the same bunched treatment. They are not the same: the first is a trill, the other two are single taps. Getting that contrast is what makes the word sound Spanish. The d then gets hardened when it should be soft, and the unstressed e and o both get reduced. Note too that "recordar" needs no preposition — "recordar de" is a common but incorrect import from English remember about.