Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "vivir" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce vivir in Spanish?

vivir is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /biˈβiɾ/. It means “to live.” bee-BEER — both v's are b sounds, the first firm and the second soft.

bee-BEER — both v's are b sounds, the first firm and the second soft.

vivir /biˈβiɾ/

Two syllables, vi-VIR, beat at the end because of the r. Regular, so the present tense moves the stress back one: VI-vo, VI-ves, vi-VI-mos. The two i vowels stay identical throughout — this is a word built almost entirely out of one vowel and one consonant, which makes it a clean test of both.

Listen: vivir

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Sound it out

v A b sound. At the start of a phrase the lips close and part gently; your teeth stay well away from your lip.

i A tight "ee" as in "see", unstressed but never slackened toward "ih".

v The second v is also a b, and because it sits between vowels it goes soft: the lips approach without meeting and the voice hums through the gap.

ir Another tight "ee" carrying the stress, closed by a single tapped r.

Hear it in a sentence

Mis padres viven en Lima.

My parents live in Lima.

Listen: Mis padres viven en Lima.

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"Mis padres viven en Lima" uses the plural form, stressed VI-ven, and "padres" covers both parents together — Spanish uses the masculine plural for a mixed pair. Say "viven en" and the n links straight into the following vowel, giving BEE-be-nen as one run.

Where English speakers slip

Two v's, and English speakers buzz both with teeth on lip, producing a word that sounds nothing like Spanish. Make them b sounds, and let the second one go soft between the vowels. The vowels themselves then get slackened into the "ih" of English "liver", when both should be tight "ee" sounds. Get those two things right and the word transforms.