Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "todo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce todo in Spanish?

todo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈto.ðo/. It means “all / everything.” TOH-thoh — the first d-sound is a real t, the second is a soft d close to the th in "mother".

TOH-thoh — the first d-sound is a real t, the second is a soft d close to the th in "mother".

todo /ˈto.ðo/

Two syllables — TO-do — with the stress on the first, straight from the default rule for a vowel-final word. The four forms — todo, toda, todos, todas — all keep that front beat, since none of them changes the ending in a way the rule notices.

Listen: todo

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Sound it out

to A dry dental t and a pure "oh", carrying the stress. No aspiration after the t and no glide on the vowel.

do Sitting between two vowels, this d softens right down: the tongue brushes the upper teeth without blocking the airflow, producing something very close to the th of "this". Then a second pure "oh", identical to the first.

Hear it in a sentence

Ya comí todo.

I already ate everything.

Listen: Ya comí todo.

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"Ya comí todo" has an accent on "comí" that moves the stress to the final í, marking it as past tense — compare "como" (I eat) with the beat on the front. Say "comí todo" and you get the contrast in one breath: co-MEE-TO-do. The word "ya" opens with a consonant y sound, like the y in "yes".

Where English speakers slip

Both consonants get the English treatment: the t is aspirated and made too far back, and the intervocalic d is turned into a hard, popped English d, giving "TOE-doe". Move the t forward onto the teeth, and let the second d go so soft it nearly becomes a th. The two o's should also be twins — English wants to glide the stressed one and reduce the unstressed one, and Spanish does neither.