Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "siempre" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce siempre in Spanish?

siempre is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈsjem.pɾe/. It means “always.” SYEM-preh, two beats — the ie glides into one sound and the final e is pronounced.

SYEM-preh, two beats — the ie glides into one sound and the final e is pronounced.

siempre /ˈsjem.pɾe/

Two syllables — SIEM-pre — with the stress on the first because the ie counts as one diphthong and the word ends in a vowel. As an adverb it never changes form. Its opposite "nunca" is also two syllables with a front beat, which makes the pair rhythmically symmetrical as well as semantically opposed.

Listen: siempre

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Sound it out

sie A hissing s, then the i glides straight into the e as a y sound. One beat, "syeh", and it carries the stress. Never "see-em".

m A normal m closing the stressed syllable. It becomes m rather than n because a p follows — Spanish always writes m before p and b.

pre An unaspirated p joined immediately to a single tap of the r, then a short "eh". The final vowel is fully pronounced, which keeps the word at two beats.

Hear it in a sentence

Siempre desayuno café.

I always have coffee for breakfast.

Listen: Siempre desayuno café.

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"Siempre desayuno café" places the adverb first, a common position in Spanish. "Desayuno" is four beats, de-sa-YU-no, with the y as a consonant. Note there is no article before "café" — Spanish drops it in this kind of habitual statement, and the accent on "café" holds the stress at the end.

Where English speakers slip

Both ends of the word give way at once: "see-EM-preh" splits the ie, and "SYEM-pr" drops the final e as if it were silent. Both wrong: one glide at the front, one full vowel at the back, two beats in total. The pr cluster then invites a curled English r, which muffles the p — keep them distinct and flick the tongue once.