Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "viejo" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce viejo in Spanish?

viejo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈbje.xo/. It means “old.” BYEH-hoh — it starts with a b sound, and the j is a throaty h.

BYEH-hoh — it starts with a b sound, and the j is a throaty h.

viejo /ˈbje.xo/

VIE-jo: two syllables, and the first carries the beat because the word ends in a vowel. The ie counts as a single diphthong, which is why this is two beats and not three. The feminine "vieja" and both plurals keep the same rhythm, since the ending stays under the default rule.

Listen: viejo

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Sound it out

vie The v is a b sound, and the i glides straight into the e as a y. So the first beat is "byeh", all in one, and it takes the stress.

j A raspy sound made at the back of the mouth, like the ch in Scottish "loch" or a heavily breathed h. Nothing like the English j of "jam".

o A pure "oh", unstressed but fully rounded.

Hear it in a sentence

Mi bicicleta ya está vieja.

My bike is old now.

Listen: Mi bicicleta ya está vieja.

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"Mi bicicleta ya está vieja" uses estar rather than ser, which softens the meaning — the bike has got old rather than being inherently old. "Bicicleta" has two soft c's before i and e, giving bee-see-KLEH-ta, and the accent on "está" holds the stress on the final syllable.

Where English speakers slip

Two sounds go wrong together: the v gets buzzed like an English v, and the j gets pronounced like the j in "jelly". Both are wrong, and the combination produces "vee-EH-joe", which is unrecognisable. Say a b, glide the ie into one beat, and put the j at the back of the throat. Culturally, note that "viejo" applied to a person can be affectionate or rude depending entirely on tone and relationship.