How to pronounce “qué tal” in Spanish

How to pronounce "qué tal" in 3 Spanish accents

Slashes show the phonetic spelling (IPA) — how it sounds, not how it’s written. . separates syllables; ˈ marks the stressed one.

Voices are generated separately from the transcription and may not reflect it exactly. Real speakers vary.

About "qué tal"

"Qué tal" is one of the first greetings you'll want to nail in Spanish — it's casual, friendly, and used constantly in everyday conversation, roughly meaning how's it going or how are things. You'll hear it at the start of a phone call, passing a coworker in the hall, or texting a friend, making it more informal than cómo estás but equally versatile. Pronunciation-wise, say the qué with a clean, short eh vowel — think of the e in bed, held briefly and without any glide. The tal is straightforward: tahl, with a soft l and the stress landing there. The biggest mistake English speakers make is turning that é into a diphthong, pronouncing it like kay, which sounds noticeably off to native ears. Grammatically, tal is doing quiet but interesting work here — it literally pulls from the Latin talis, meaning such or of that kind, so the phrase originally asked something like how goes it in that way. The good news is pronunciation is consistent across Mexican, Castilian, and Rioplatense Spanish, so what you learn here travels well.