Pronouncing Spanish Vowel Combinations (Diphthongs/Hiatus)

In this lesson I cover the rules for pronouncing vowel combinations, or two consecutive vowels, in Spanish. Basically, the issue is whether to pronounce them together, in a single syllable (diphthong), or as two distinct syllables (hiatus). Here are the rules and some examples...

[@Loonzeador]

As always, really instructive. Keep doing this video-lessons Prof. Jason, I love them. I wish this work you're doing here were more recognised all along the Internet, because you're the best on this. Seriously. Thanks for your hard work.

[@calebconnell8904]

I found this video helped me to remember how to divide syllables with consecutive vowels.😀

[@tammydepascale8727]

I love your videos. It makes them very easy to understand and you are very detailed with explanations. Thank you and continue doing them!!

[@okplstybbye]

Great post...made the complicated vowel sounds very simple! Thanks:)

[@ballmoniyy]

Great video

[@Professorjason]

@puneves Thanks for the correction. I hadn't noticed that, but of course you are right about miér-col-les. It IS a diphthong and an esdrújula word. Gracias.

[@magomiquelc.chriest4299]

I love Professor Jason''s Spanish language group videos!

[@chedarbob1998]

hola soy de Ecuador, y la pronunciacion es exelente Hi i am from Ecuador and the pronunciation is exellent

[@abbeyglencircle]

Thx you for these simple rules

[@Oshyrath]

Gracias por su ayuda

[@thewinnemuccaparaglider9556]

Awesome! Thanks.

[@puneves]

There's one mistake in your explanation, the combination "IÉ" in the word "MIÉRCOLES" is actually a diphtong, not a hiatus. It's MIÉR-CO-LES, like in "siete", not MI-ÉR-CO-LES. It has a written accent because it is "esdrújula". With strong+weak vowel combination, when the stress falls on the the strong one, no hiatus is formed.

[@magomiquelc.chriest4299]

Thank you for being there!!!

[@inbcetc3569]

Any vowell combination containing 'i' or 'u' and without any accent is pronounced as one syllable.

[@Professorjason]

@azn921 hahaha, damn right. OK, so you'd usually use an 'a' for the composite future form (ir + a + verb): voy a estudiar; ¿Vas a llamarme? Also, use an 'a' when using ir/to go to introduce a destination: fui a la biblioteca; vamos a ir a la playa, etc. Suerte!

[@Professorjason]

@azn921 well, that is not a true rule at all... There are lots of instances in which IR is not necessarily followed by 'a', and ir de compras is just one of them. It is a fixed expression: always ir de compras, voy de compras, fui de compras, vamos a ir de compras...

[@816sprint47]

Thanks very good,liked the personal a vid too.

[@johnharvey5381]

Very helpful!

[@alltaken0]

great

[@posfr292]

On further searching and contemplating, it seems to me that, for the word "diós; (a) the ió is a diphthong, (b) the whole word comprises one syllable, (c) the accent cannot be on the i as that would convert it into a hiatus; i.e. two syllables, and (d) the accent on the o (ó) indicates that this last part of the diphthong is stressed relative to the first part. How does that theory sound?

[@magomiquelc.chriest4299]

Bravo!!!

[@magomiquelc.chriest4299]

Yay!!!

[@radgeek01]

Does a written accent over the weak vowel always "break" the diphthong and create a hiatus? I've read conflicting information on this. Thanks for the fantastic videos.

[@DWilliams1707]

Prof Jason, thank you for this. Can you explain to me why the word 'también needs an accent? I assume that there are two syllables here and the second syllable is pronounced exactly like the word 'bien' (well).

[@evazquez2188]

"bien" is a single syllable word, and single syllable words, in general, do not have accent marks (there are some exemptions to this, but they do not apply to this case).

[@posfr292]

Thank you for your excellent videos, including this one. Grateful if you can help me understand what's going on with the word "diós". Is the "ió" a diphthong or hiatus? In any case, what is the purpose of the tilda on the strong vowel, o?

[@reynoldgooding4715]

@posir.In my opinion,if there was no tilde ,and because the word ends with an "s" the stress would have been on the second-last syllable i.e "di" ;however in order for the word to be pronounced properly ,the tilde is required on the last syllable to effect the proper pronouncement-di OS.

[@VerryLongName]

Are there any words in spanish other than ñaño that have 2 or moresquiggly dashes

[@Professorjason]

@chedarbob1998 Thanks!

[@jackdav34]

Very well explained. What's surprising is the guide to Spanish I checked out @ the library (Outreach Spanish by William Harvey) gets seis wrong, they break it into separate syllables. (see-yehs)? So does the Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish.

[@clint9457]

Thank you. Having just watched your video on word stress, this video begs the question: How does an accent mark in a word's vowel combination affect the stress of a word? For instance, with the word "miercoles," with an accent mark over the first "e" to demarcate a vowel hiatus, is the word stress now on the second syllable, or does the rule for word stress stay the same with stress on the next to last syllable (as the word ends in an "s")?

[@Professorjason]

Good question. in Spanish, a written accent always coincides with the tonic vowel, that of the stresses syllable. so anytime you see a written accent you know which syllable to stress.

[@ShahinRezaMustafiz]

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[@toasternessstudios5238]

Jason guess what. Your name is pronounced "A- sun" in Spanish. jaja this means that you are a sun.... no... a SON!!! YOU HAVE A DAD OMG!!!

[@PH7018c]

...Ha-sun..

[@demauryobispo2442]

you pronounced hiatus wrong its hi not hi as in hello the i is pronounced e hi a tus

[@Professorjason]

In English the first syllabi of this word is identical to hi as in hello.

[@chanteledwards3615]

great