Hard to pronounce future tense
I'm normally fine with pronunciations, but some verbs in the future tense really get me, especially when I'm talking fast. For example, words like "moriré", "viviré" I find incredibly hard to pronounce. I think it's because of the repeated 'ir' sound but I'm not sure. I was wondering if native speakers (despite their ability to pronounce words a lot better than me) would go for the "voy a morir/vivir" option, or do they just use the future tense no matter the pronunciation? Are these tricky words quite common in spoken spanish?
6 Answers
Hello Quincy,
Welcome to our Spanishdict community forum 
I have quite often found that when people who are learning to speak Spanish are trying to pronounce Spanish sounds (phonemes) that they find difficult they tend to try too hard which means that they usually over emphasize them and this makes the sounds they make unnatural, a little like the distortion you notice when music is played too loudly! 
The key is to relax and not aim for perfection straight away! When I have struggled to pronounce some words (the occasional word) in one of my Skype classes with my native Spanish teacher, she breaks down the constituent sounds of a word.
eg: demasiado = dey - mass - ee - ah -do
I used to experience difficulty with pronouncing the conditional indicative tense eg eg: preferiría until somebody observed that I struggled with pronouncing the r sound and advised me to try to aim for a soft d sound instead and now I have much less difficulty in pronouncing the r sound!
The advantage of learning to speak Spanish compared to English or French is that Spanish is a very phonetical language ...words are pronounced exactly as they are spelt following the Spanish way of pronouncing them of course ...unlike English and French which have many silent letters and some nasal sounds, respectively!
we use the words no matter the pronunciation and is not really hard for us you may practice to pronounce the words with "ir" syllable by syllable
Hola Carlos, bienvenido al foro
Well, Quincy, for a native speaker this is not a hard pronunciation.
it all depends on how strong you are trying to pronounce the "r" . The r in moriré is like an insinuated sound, you are not supposed to roll the r .
Have a look at this interesting tool. You only have to write the word (don't forget the accents!) and then click on the green button.
we use the words no matter the pronunciation and is not really hard for us you may practice to pronounce the words with "ir" syllable by syllable
The only advantage that a native speaker enjoys is that he/she has had many, many hours of practice starting in early childhood when all sounds are a challenge. Have you ever noticed a two year old playing on the floor with his toys and muttering to him self? To those of us instructed in phonetics and scientific linguistics, this is "pattern practice."
There are many non-natives, who by means of inherent talent to recognize and reproduce sounds, such a many musicians can, or by means of incessant diligent practice, are able to attain native pronunciation or near native at least. One of my college professors, whose class I attended many years ago spoke perfectly pronounced Mexican Spanish. I was amazed to find out that he was born in Chicago, Illinois.
The reason for his success was that he continued to practice, and record himself, and to keep up the procedure until his musical ear was satisfied.
So what I am getting at is, DON'T avoid the difficult stuff, practice it until it gets easy.
I have to do the same when I'm learning a new piece for my guitar.
I am not a native speaker and sometimes just use voy a as it is simple! However, I dont have a problem with the pronunciation of viviré etc. As you know to be understood it is important to put the stress in the correct place. Iré is less daunting try that until you are happy then add the other syllables.
Your goal should not be to sound like a native speaker. You probably never will as 99.9% of non native speakers. You will always have an accent. There may be some exceptions but I still have to meet one.
Your goal should be to speak clearly enough to be understood and have a good conversation skill. With time and practice you will improve your pronunciation and you may get closer to a native sound, but a true native speaker (I'm talking about someone born and raised in a Spanish speaking country) will always know you are not one.
Daniela is saying she knew one person who did not have an accent. I never have and I believe I never will.
I been living in the middle of the Midwest for 16 years, hearing and speaking English most of the time (just a few Spanish speakers around) and I have an accent. Everybody understands me and I'm not worried about it .
