2 Medical Spanish Pronunciation Rules to help you ACE medical Spanish words
In this free Medical Spanish lesson you will learn two easy rules for making sure you’re pronouncing medical Spanish words properly. These 2 medical Spanish pronunciation rules apply to all Spanish words as well, and they’re especially great for all of you learners who are learning new vocabulary through self-study with your own books and resources.
Here is the Medical Spanish lesson about Spanish Pronunciation Rules I taught to the Facebook group:
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El Problema – ¿Dónde poner énfasis?
One of the most common confusions when learning a new language is where to put emphasis and which vowels or syllables to stress in a word as you pronounce it. However, once you get a hang of pronunciation and natural stress on words, you’re able to comprehend the people you’re speaking to much easier and you are able to be more easily understood.
| Spanish | English |
| El Doctor | The doctor |
La Doctora  | The doctor |
| La Médica | The doctor |
| El Cardiólogo | The Cardiologist |
| La Cardiología | Cardiology |
| Los rayos equis | The X-ray |
| El hospital | The hospital |
| El Abdomen | The abdomen |
| Las estudiantes | The students |
| El dolor | The pain |
| La enfermedad | The illness |
| Hinchar | Puff up |
| Hinchado | Swollen |
| Hinchazón | Swelling |
Regla número 1 : Palabras que terminan en una vocal (a, e, i, o, u), la letra N o la letra S:
In Spanish, all words that end in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), N or S have the natural stress on the 2nd to last syllable. The bold syllables below are the natural stress of the word
| Spanish | English |
| La doc-to-ra | The doctor |
| Los ra-yos e-quis | The X-Ray |
| Las es-tu-dian-tes | The Students |
| Hin-cha-do | Swollen |
Regla # 2: Todas las otras palabras:
If a word doesn’t end in a VOWEL, N or S, then the natural stress is on the final syllable. See the examples below with the final syllable highlighted.
| Spanish | English |
| El hos-pi-tal | The hospital |
| El do-lor | The pain |
| Ha-blar | To speak (v) |
| Co-mer | To eat (v) |
| Vi-vir | To live (v) |
¿Qué pasa con los acentos? Los acentos rompen las 2 reglas:
When you see written accents on a word, that usually means the word’s pronunciation is breaking one of the natural pronunciation rules. In rare cases, it just distinguishes one word from another like: si = if, sí = yes. However, more often than not, a written accent means that a word may end in a vowel, n or s, but the stress isn’t on the 2nd to last syllable. See below how the words break the natural accentuation rules…
| Spanish | English |
| La mé-di-ca | The doctor |
| El car-dió-lo-go | The cardiologist |
| La car-dio-lo-gía | Cardiology |
| La Hin-cha-zón | The swelling |
| La In-fec-ción | The infection |
Práctica
¿Cómo se pronuncian estas palabras?
| Spanish | English |
| La diabetes | Diabetes |
| La dia-be-tes | |
| La enfermera | The nurse |
| La en-fer-me-ra | |
| El órgano | The organ |
| El ór-ga-no | |
| La infección | The infection |
| La in-fec-ción |
For a more thorough discussion on medical Spanish pronunciation, consider this online course I put together for you to practice your pronunciation!
I packaged all of this into easily downloadable .pdf notes –
Keep up the good work speaking responsible Spanish to your patients!
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