How to Pronounce 'Verde': Spanish Pronunciation Guide

Q: How do you pronounce verde in Spanish?

verde is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈbeɾ.ðe/. It means “green.” BEHR-theh — it starts with a b sound, because Spanish v and b are the same letter to the ear.

How do you pronounce "verde" in Spanish?

BEHR-theh — it starts with a b sound, because Spanish v and b are the same letter to the ear.

verde /ˈbeɾ.ðe/

VER-de: two syllables, and the first carries the beat. The word ends in a vowel, so the default rule places stress on the second-to-last syllable with nothing written. "Verde" also has no separate feminine form, so "verde" and "verdes" are the only two shapes you need, and both keep the beat where it is.

Listen: verde

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

v Pronounced as a b. At the start of a phrase the lips close and release gently; there is no contact between your top teeth and bottom lip anywhere in this word. Spanish lost the distinction between b and v centuries ago and never got it back.

er A short "eh" as in "bed", then a single quick tap of the r. Keep the vowel clean — an English r would bend it into "ur".

de The d here follows an r rather than a vowel, and comes out soft: the tongue brushes the upper teeth without sealing, close to the th of "those". Then a short "eh", unstressed but full.

Hear it in a sentence

El semáforo está en verde.

The traffic light is green.

Listen: El semáforo está en verde.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"El semáforo está en verde" carries a written accent on "semáforo" — it ends in a vowel, so the default would give se-ma-FO-ro, and the accent drags the stress two syllables back to se-MÁ-fo-ro. Spanish says a light is "in green" rather than simply green, and it takes "está" rather than "es" because the colour is a passing state.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers deliver the v with teeth on lip and get an unmistakably foreign "VUR-day". Two fixes: make it a b, and stop the r from colouring the vowel before it. The final e is the third slip, often turned into the "ay" of "day" with a glide on the end. Spanish e is short and flat, the vowel in "bed", and it stops where it starts.