Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "sí" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce sí in Spanish?

sí is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /si/. It means “yes.” see, with a clean hissing s and a short, tight "ee" — never a buzzing z.

see, with a clean hissing s and a short, tight "ee" — never a buzzing z.

sí /si/

One syllable, so the accent cannot be marking stress. It is a distinguishing accent, separating "sí" (yes) from "si" (if) — two identical-sounding words that Spanish keeps apart in writing only. When you hear either one, context does the work your eyes would do on the page.

Listen: sí

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Sound it out

s A voiceless hiss, always. Spanish s does not turn into a z the way English s does in "his" or "rose"; the vocal cords stay out of it.

í A pure "ee" as in "see", but shorter and tenser, with the tongue high and the lips spread. The accent mark is not telling you anything about this sound.

Hear it in a sentence

Sí, claro que quiero.

Yes, of course I want to.

Listen: Sí, claro que quiero.

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"Sí, claro que quiero" strings together three of the most common function words in the language. The "que" is pronounced "keh" — the u is silent, there purely to keep the c hard before an e. And "quiero" is two beats, KYEH-ro, with the ie fusing into one gliding syllable and a single tapped r in the middle.

Where English speakers slip

The word itself is easy; the trap is the pair. Learners who first meet "si" without the accent start pronouncing both the same way and then, more damagingly, start writing them the same way — "si, gracias" instead of "sí, gracias" changes yes into if. There is also a small habit worth catching early: English speakers stretch this vowel out for emphasis ("seeee"), where a Spanish yes stays short and clipped even when it is emphatic.