A guide to saying it like a local
How to Say "How do you spell it" in Spanish
Ask how to spell a word in Spanish with this essential phrase. Perfect for dictionaries and notes.
¿Cómo se escribe?
KOH-moh seh es-KREE-behneutral
Spanish TTS · 0:01
Use this when you encounter a word you don't know how to spell, perhaps when taking notes or looking something up in a Spanish dictionary. It's a polite way to get clarification.
Alternatives
- ¿Cómo se deletrea?More specifically asks for the letters, like 'spell it out'.
- ¿Cómo lo escribes?More direct, asking 'how do you write it?'
Ways to get it wrong
Confusing 'escribe' with 'escribe'
The verb 'escribir' means 'to write' or 'to spell'; don't confuse it with similar-sounding words.
Forgetting the question marks
Spanish uses inverted question marks at the beginning of questions, like ¿Cómo...?
Frequently asked
how to ask how to spell in spanish
The most common way is '¿Cómo se escribe?'. This directly asks for the spelling of a word.
spanish for spell it out
You can use '¿Cómo se deletrea?' which specifically asks for the letters of the word.
formal way to ask how to spell something in spanish
While '¿Cómo se escribe?' is neutral, for a more formal context, you might use '¿Podría decirme cómo se escribe?' which means 'Could you tell me how it is written?'.
