Quote:
Originally Posted by coffeecup
One thing that's really helped me get my head around the sound was finding songs that have them. For example, Loca by Shakira has the line "Y por ti borró (borró)" and she makes it sound AMAZING!! I get so jealous!  I wish I could say borró like she does. |
Well, she's a native Spanish speaker... I bet she doesn't do it better than I do..
There are two different sounds for the "
r" in Spanish. One is
soft and the other one is
strong.
"
R" between two vowels: "pa
red" is soft, and it sounds a lot like a soft "
d" in English. Try to pronounce the following words as if instead of an
"r" there was a "
d" in them:
"pe
ra", "a
ro", "i
ra", fu
ria".
That soft "
r" sounds also a little bit like the "
tt" in "li
ttle" or the "
r" in "th
row".
**
The strong "
r" - At the
beginning and the
end of a word: "
rápido", "
rama". All the verb infinitives: "come
r", "i
r" "veni
r".
"
r" before a consonant: "a
rte", "a
rma"..
Between two vowels it's written "
rr": "pe
rro", "ca
rro"...
The sound is not always the same in all countries. In some places in Chile and Argentina they tend to pronounce the strong "
r" with a sibilant sound. Also, people who are really native from Bogotá, Colombia and its surroundings, have a very distinctive way of pronouncing the "rr".
As oposed to that, in Puerto Rico and other places in the Caribbean they tend to pronounce it like an "L", especially, when the "
r" is located before a consonant: "Pue
lto"
