The soft d: like 'th' in 'this'

Erklärung

Cada, todo, vida — tongue between the teeth, gentle. Final d nearly vanishes in much speech: usted ≈ 'usté', ciudad ≈ 'ciudá'.

The -ado ending relaxes further colloquially (cansado ≈ 'cansao' in many regions). Keeping every d hard is a strong foreign accent marker.

The give-away of a foreign accent is keeping every d hard. Between vowels and at word ends it relaxes to the th of 'this' — cada, todo, vida — and final d nearly vanishes (usted ≈ 'usté', ciudad ≈ 'ciudá'); the -ado ending goes further still in casual speech (cansado ≈ 'cansao'). Reserve the hard d for after a pause or n/l: donde, falda.

Beispiele

Verwandte Regeln

• B and v: the same sound