Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "triste" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce triste in Spanish?

triste is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈtɾis.te/. It means “sad.” TREES-teh, stress on the first syllable, with a crisp tr and a short final e.

TREES-teh, stress on the first syllable, with a crisp tr and a short final e.

triste /ˈtɾis.te/

Two syllables, TRIS-te, beat on the first, the placement the default rule gives for a vowel-final word. Like "grande", this adjective has a single form for both genders, so only the plural "tristes" changes anything — and that keeps the same stress, since an s ending falls under the same default.

Listen: triste

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Sound it out

tri A dry dental t joined immediately to a single tap of the r, then a tight "ee". English blurs t and r into a "ch"-like sound; Spanish keeps them separate and clean. This is the stressed beat.

ste A hissing s, a dental t with no puff of air, and a short "eh" as in "bed". The final e is fully pronounced, which is what makes the word two syllables.

Hear it in a sentence

Ana está triste hoy.

Ana is sad today.

Listen: Ana está triste hoy.

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"Ana está triste hoy" uses estar, which is almost obligatory with this adjective: sadness is a state you are in. Saying "Ana es triste" would describe her as a sad person by nature, which is a much heavier claim. Say "triste hoy" and the final e links across the silent h into the "oy".

Where English speakers slip

English readers treat the final e as silent, producing a one-syllable "trist". It is a full short "eh", and the word has two beats. The tr cluster then picks up the English "ch" quality — say "tuh-ree" slowly and compress it to hear the difference. And the stressed i needs to be a tight "ee", not the lax "ih" of English "trist".