The diaeresis in pingüino and vergüenza in Spanish
You type "pinguino" in a chat, the spellchecker underlines it in red, and you don't know where those two dots go.
The phrase
Esta palabra lleva diéresis, por eso se oye la vocal.10 words10 sentences
The ten words
- diéresis/ˈdjeɾesis/
diaeresisnoun
The two dots placed over the u so that it is actually pronounced.
- pingüino/pinˈɡwino/
penguinnoun
A black and white bird that cannot fly and lives in very cold regions.
- vergüenza/beɾˈɡwensa/
embarrassmentnoun
The discomfort you feel when you look bad in front of others.
- cigüeña/siˈɡweɲa/
storknoun
A large bird with long legs that builds its nest high up.
- bilingüe/biˈlinɡwe/
bilingualadjective
Someone who speaks two languages.
- güero/ˈɡweɾo/
blondadjective
Having light skin or blond hair.
- desagüe/deˈsaɡwe/
drainnoun
The outlet or pipe through which water flows away.
- antigüedad/antiɡweˈdad/
antiquenoun
An old object valued for its history.
- averiguar/abeɾiˈɡwaɾ/
to find outverb
To search until you learn something you didn't know.
- pronunciar/pɾonunˈsjaɾ/
to pronounceverb
To say the sounds of a word with your mouth.
The sentences
Esta palabra lleva diéresis, por eso se oye la vocal.
This word has a diaeresis, that's why the vowel is pronounced.
Mira, ese pingüino se tiró al agua otra vez.
Look, that penguin jumped into the water again.
Me dio vergüenza preguntar cómo se escribía esa palabra.
I was embarrassed to ask how that word was spelled.
La cigüeña hizo su nido en lo alto del poste.
The stork built its nest on top of the pole.
Mi prima es bilingüe y nos ayuda con las traducciones.
My cousin is bilingual and helps us with translations.
Mi hermano salió güero y yo salí más moreno.
My brother turned out fair-skinned and I came out darker.
Se tapó el desagüe de la cocina otra vez.
The kitchen drain got clogged again.
Ese reloj es una antigüedad que era de mi abuela.
That clock is an antique that belonged to my grandmother.
Voy a averiguar cuánto cuesta el boleto de regreso.
I'm going to find out how much the return ticket costs.
Sin la diéresis, la vas a pronunciar mal.
Without the diaeresis, you're going to pronounce it wrong.
Pronunciation
diéresis/ˈdjeɾesis/
The stress falls on the first syllable, and 'dié' is said as one beat, not 'di-é'.
pingüino/pinˈɡwino/
With the two dots the u is pronounced: 'gwi', not 'gi'.
vergüenza/beɾˈɡwensa/
The ü is pronounced: 'güen' is one syllable, and that's where the stress falls; the z sounds like an s.
cigüeña/siˈɡweɲa/
The c sounds like an s, and the stress falls on 'güe'.
bilingüe/biˈlinɡwe/
The two dots over the u make it pronounced: gwe. The stress falls on lin.
desagüe/deˈsaɡwe/
The stress falls on 'sa', not on the last syllable.
antigüedad/antiɡweˈdad/
The stress falls at the end, on 'dad', even though it has no written accent.
averiguar/abeɾiˈɡwaɾ/
The v sounds like a b, and 'guar' is one syllable, the stressed one.
pronunciar/pɾonunˈsjaɾ/
The ending 'ciar' is one syllable and that's where the stress falls: pro-nun-CIAR.
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Get the Pass7 days free, then USD 5.99 a monthToday's words are freeQuestions
- How do you say penguin in Spanish?
- Pingüino, with the u pronounced because of the diaeresis: 'gwi', not 'gi'.
- What does antigüedad mean?
- An old object valued for its history, as in 'Ese reloj es una antigüedad que era de mi abuela.'
- Why does pingüino need a diaeresis?
- The two dots over the u make sure it's pronounced, so pingüino is said 'pinGWIno' and not 'pinGIno'.