Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish

How to say "wife" in Spanish

"Wife" in Spanish is esposa, pronounced ehs-POH-sah (stress on the syllable in capitals). In short: wife. It is a feminine noun (la esposa, plural las esposas).

Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice. Gender and plural: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

How to pronounce esposa

Esposa is pronounced ehs-POH-sah, in IPA /esˈposa/. Esposa has three syllables, ehs-POH-sah, with the stress on the second. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a vowel, -n or -s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable.

Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Is esposa masculine or feminine?

Esposa is feminine, so it takes la (the) and una (a): la esposa. The plural is las esposas. That fits the usual pattern: most nouns ending in -a are feminine.

Example sentence

Ella es mi esposa
She is my wife

How to remember esposa

esposa [ehs-POH-sah] sounds like the English “espouse”. Picture this:

You espouse a woman at the altar, placing a ring on her finger as your lawful wife.

A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.

Practice esposa

Two quick games, right here: no sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere.

esposa or mujer: which one?

Not to be confused with a similar word. In short:

• esposa (wife): wife.
• mujer (woman): woman; in everyday speech also "wife" (mi mujer).