Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "sucio" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce sucio in Spanish?

sucio is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈsu.sjo/. It means “dirty.” SOO-syoh, two beats — the c is an s sound and the io glides into one beat.

SOO-syoh, two beats — the c is an s sound and the io glides into one beat.

sucio /ˈsu.sjo/

Two syllables, SU-cio, with the weight on the first because the io is a single diphthong and the word ends in a vowel. All four forms keep the placement. The related noun "suciedad" grows to four syllables and moves the beat to the very end, su-cie-DAD, following the d-ending rule.

Listen: sucio

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Sound it out

su A hissing s and a pure "oo" as in "boot", tightly rounded. This is the stressed beat.

cio Before an i, the c is a plain "s", then the i glides into the o as a y. So the ending is "syoh", one beat. The word has two s sounds spelled two different ways.

Hear it in a sentence

El piso está sucio.

The floor is dirty.

Listen: El piso está sucio.

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"El piso está sucio" uses estar, since dirt is a temporary condition. "Piso" means floor here, though in Spain it more often means an apartment — a regional split worth knowing. The s in "piso" sits between vowels and still stays a clean hiss, which English would voice into a z.

Where English speakers slip

Two wrong readings compete here: "SOO-kyo" with a hard c, or "SOO-see-oh" with the io pulled apart. Both readings come from applying English spelling logic. The u also wants reading as the English "suck", a flat vowel, when Spanish wants a rounded "oo". Keep it two beats: SOO, then SYOH.