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 CardiologÃa | 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, sà = 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-gÃa | 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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