Spanish rolled R practice: real sentences with rr and r

Try it now: one rolled rr

Esto es un bolígrafo marrón.

This is a brown pen. Roll the rr in marrón; the r in bolígrafo is a single tap.

Say this line after the speaker

3:47–3:50 · After the speaker · Spanish After Hours, human-written captions

When Spanish rolls its r

• rr between vowels: always rolled. perro, carretera, cerrar.
• r at the start of a word: rolled, though it is written with one r. rápido, ropa, raro.
• r after n, l or s: rolled too. Enrique, alrededor, Israel.
• Any other single r: one quick tap, like the tt in American “butter”. pero, para, secadora.

Some words only differ by it: pero (but) and perro (dog), caro (expensive) and carro (cart, car).

Rolled rr between vowels: six sentences

Shortest first. Each opens in Sada at its own line, After the speaker: listen, record, then open Compare and play your take against the original.

1. Esto es un bolígrafo marrón. This is a brown pen. A1 · Cozy Spanish Repetition for Learning, 3:47–3:50
2. Y voy a cerrar la puerta. And I am going to close the door. A2 · Learn Spanish at the Laundromat, 3:49–3:52
3. Yo creo que ya están cerrando. I think they are already closing. A2 · Learn Spanish naturally with this vlog, 2:17–2:19
4. Aquí detrás está la carretera. The road is right behind here. A2 · Learn Spanish naturally with this vlog, 5:17–5:19
5. Es una carretera de piedras. It is a road made of stones. A2 · Spend the day with me! Spanish vlog for learners, 0:13–0:16
6. Y las contraventanas en esta casa son marrones. And the shutters on this house are brown. B1 · Spend the day with me! Spanish vlog for learners, 0:32–0:36

R at the start of a word: five sentences

One letter, but the same roll as rr. Learners often tap it because it is written single: listen for how long the speaker holds it.

1. Es ropa sucia. It is dirty clothes. A1 · Learn Spanish at the Laundromat, 0:48–0:52
2. Algo raro está pasando aquí. Something strange is going on here. A2 · Learn Spanish naturally with this vlog, 0:00–0:02
3. Respira hondo, y vamos allá. Take a deep breath, and here we go. A2 · Spanish Shadowing! Practice your Speaking & Pronunciation, 3:51–3:54
4. Si voy muy rápido, ralentiza el vídeo. If I go too fast, slow the video down. A2 · Spanish Shadowing! Practice your Speaking & Pronunciation, 2:00–2:03
5. Pues porque la furgoneta está inclinada y ruedan. Because the van is tilted and they roll. B1 · Learn Spanish naturally with this vlog, 6:29–6:32

The single tap r, for contrast

Say these with one light tap. If you roll every r, Spanish sounds forced; the contrast is what makes pero and perro two words.

1. Esto es una secadora. This is a dryer. A1 · Learn Spanish at the Laundromat, 1:45–1:48
2. Voy a poner dos zanahorias. I am going to add two carrots. A1 · Easy way to learn Spanish with repetition, 1:55–1:59
3. Pero también compré otras cosas para la cocina. But I also bought other things for the kitchen. A2 · Cozy Spanish Repetition for Learning, 5:58–6:02

How to practise rolling your r

1. Find the tap first. Say “butter” or “ladder” quickly, American style: the middle sound is the Spanish single r. Now say para with it.
2. Relax the tongue tip just behind your upper front teeth, and push air over it so it flutters. Tension stops the trill; a loose tongue and steady air make it.
3. Use a d or t before it. tr and dr help the tongue start: “t-r-r-r”, then tres, then carretera.
4. Put it back in a sentence. A trill alone is easy to drill and hard to use. Record the lines above after the speaker, at 0.75× under “More options” if they feel fast, and listen to your take beside the original.

A traditional tongue twister for the rr: “Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido ruedan los carros cargados de azúcar del ferrocarril.” Say it slowly first; speed comes after the roll is clean.

What Sada can and cannot tell you

Sada compares your take with the captions: which words its speech recognition heard, which it missed, and your timing against the speaker. It does not grade a single sound, so it cannot score your trill. If you tap the rr in perro, the recognizer may still write perro from context, or it may write pero. Your ears are the judge: play your take and the original side by side in Compare and listen for the roll. Recordings stay on your device.

For more Spanish lines by level and a ten-minute routine, see the Spanish shadowing guide. In Arabic: جمل إسبانية مترجمة بالعربية.

Every line was checked on 2026-10-25 against the human-written Spanish captions Sada uses, with the range the app opens. Captions can change.