# Pronounce Que Sera Sera **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007 "2011-06-19T03:24:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/21 "2011-06-20T05:38:13Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I noticed in playing the scene in Youtube that what she was saying sounded a lot like a “d” but not full on. That explains why. Thanks. That “d”-sounding sound is an alveolar flap. It’s pretty much the same as the intervocalic flap that occurs in American English pronunciations of “metal”–you know, the pronunciation that people say sounds like “meddle.” It’s not a standard “d” sound, like what you hear in “dog” or “bad,” which are alveolar stops. [Alveolar flap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_flap). ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/22 "2011-06-20T06:01:29Z")
Thanks to you, **Acenray** and again to **John Mace** for explaining to me how the pronunciation of that sound works. I’ve even been practicing it myself, trying to duplicate the way Doris said it in the movie. Thanks to your descriptions I’m getting pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/23 "2011-06-20T19:17:07Z")
> [@Zoinks](#): > > Both are incorrect. The proper Spanish pronunciation is something like “Keh seh_rah_, seh_rah_”, accent on the final syllable of (forgive the non-IPA phonetics). However, the phrase is actually ungrammatical in Spanish. Quick googling reveals that [the original language was 400 year old Italian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Que_Sera,_Sera_%28Whatever_Will_Be,_Will_Be%29). This, plus > [@John\_Mace](#): > > The Spanish “r” is different from the English “r” (or, at least, the American English “r”). Almost a “d” sound, but the tongue never quite touches the roof of the mouth. Doris Day’s r sounds to me like either “someone who’s trying to pronounce a soft Spanish r but doesn’t really speak Spanish” (which I understand is the actual case\*) or a Hispanic with a pronunciation defect (I don’t know what is a “defecto de frenillo” called in English, but people with it can’t vibrate their RR properly or, if the defect is very strong, reach high enough in their mouth to pronounce R and RR correctly - irurre becomes id-dudde). - She knows there is a difference between R and RR: your usual non-Spanish-speaking tourist tries to turn any r into RR, “oona seRRRRRRRRRRbesa poRRRRRR fafoRRRRRRR”. All the rs in “una cerveza, por favor” are soft. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/24 "2011-06-20T19:20:09Z")
I’m a bit confused, so you’re saying both Doris and Lisa Lisa are wrong? But who’s closer? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/25 "2011-06-20T19:24:15Z")
Lisa Lisa is pronouncing it closer to the Italian, Day to the Spanish, but it’s really neither. Capisce? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/26 "2011-06-20T21:38:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Also, if it’s Italian, shouldn’t it be k **w** ay Seh-RAH seh-RAH"? “Che” in Italian is pronounced [ke]. “Que” would be pronounced [kwe], but I don’t think it’s an Italian word. It is pronounced [ke] in Spanish. Also, the third person singular of “to be” in the future tense is “sará” in Italian, so the first vowel is a [a]. (Not using the IPA for the whole word, because I’m not certain which sound the ‘r’ represents exactly.) ---
**Author:** ![Sweepster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Sweepster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweepster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/27 "2017-01-03T01:12:13Z")
Are you all kidding me? Que sera is french. Not italian. Nit spanish. French. It literally means “what will be”. “Que sera, sera” literally translaes to “what will be, will be”. Word for word. It is mispronounce is every single version of the song. More specifically, the “que” is mispronounced. Sera is pronounced as sir-ah with a rolling r. Que has no english phonetic equivalent. It is categorically not pronounced the same as the Spanish kay. Just google the FRENCH pronounciation of que. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/28 "2017-01-03T04:20:39Z")
> [@Zoinks](#): > > Both are incorrect. The proper Spanish pronunciation is something like “Keh seh_rah_, seh_rah_”, accent on the final syllable of (forgive the non-IPA phonetics). Having been doing a Hitchcock film binge, that’s close to how she does it in the movie\*. [spoiler]When the kid is upstairs at the embassy, and Doris Day hears him whistling, as Steward sneaks out of the room, you can clearly hear her hitting the “que” and “rah” parts harder and harder as she grows more frantic. KAY seh _ **RAAAH** _ seh \ ***RAAAH!** \*It’s an incredibly effective film moment.[/spoiler] I can’t comment on the grammar though. \*The recording may be different. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/29 "2017-01-03T04:45:57Z")
I can’t really take anyone seriously who thinks Spanish _que_ is pronounced “kay”. Anything else they say has to be equally suspect. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/30 "2017-01-03T09:04:55Z")
The words: “Que será, será” would not produce properly grammatical French, Spanish or Italian. Since there is nothing in the song to indicate the ethnicity of the person singing, or her mother (who says these words to the singer in her youth), there’s no way to know for certain what language the lyricist was attempting to replicate. I have read in the past that the lyricist was trying to replicate a motto on some Spanish crest, but in that explanation, the phrase was listed as being “che sera, sera”, which leaves me at a loss to understand what was being said. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/31 "2017-01-03T10:14:02Z")
It’s the motto of the Dukes of Bedford in England, as mentioned in the wiki article on the song, with the “Che” spelling: > **[Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Que_Sera,_Sera_(Whatever_Will_Be,_Will_Be))** > > "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"\[a\] is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), singing it as a cue to their onscreen kidnapped son. The three verses of the song progress through the life of the narrator—from childhood, through young adulthood and falling in love, to parenthood—and each asks "What will I be?" or "What lies ahead?" The chor Day's re... ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/32 "2017-01-03T17:01:00Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > I can’t really take anyone seriously who thinks Spanish _que_ is pronounced “kay”. [It’s not?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8NjGLLYsDw) ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/33 "2017-01-03T17:07:14Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [It’s not?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8NjGLLYsDw) Absolutely not. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/34 "2017-01-03T18:09:09Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Absolutely not. Can you clarify? I can’t figure out how else to say it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/35 "2017-01-03T18:17:38Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Can you clarify? I can’t figure out how else to say it. It’s a bit nitpicky, but Spanish speakers notice it and it annoys some of them. If you listen to the end of the sound “kay” in English, you’ll note there’s a “y” kind of thing going on that rounds out the sound. “Ay” is a diphthong in English–it’s not a pure vowel but a blend of two. If you say “kay” and drop that second vowel, you get the Spanish pronunciation. In IPA, the difference is /ke/ vs /keɪ/ (the first being the Spanish “que,” the second being the English “kay.”) Problem is, in American English, at least, we don’t have that vowel used on its own, only in a diphthong. So the English approximations would either be “kay” or “keh.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/36 "2017-01-03T18:45:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s a bit nitpicky, but Spanish speakers notice it and it annoys some of them. If you listen to the end of the sound “kay” in English, you’ll note there’s a “y” kind of thing going on that rounds out the sound. “Ay” is a diphthong in English–it’s not a pure vowel but a blend of two. If you say “kay” and drop that second vowel, you get the Spanish pronunciation. > > In IPA, the difference is /ke/ vs /keɪ/ (the first being the Spanish “que,” the second being the English “kay.”) > > Problem is, in American English, at least, we don’t have that vowel used on its own, only in a diphthong. So the English approximations would either be “kay” or “keh.” I _do_ get what you’re saying!I’ve actually been pronouncing it correctly but don’t know IPA so wasn’t sure what Terminus Est was getting at. Most enlightening. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/37 "2017-01-03T18:50:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s a bit nitpicky, but Spanish speakers notice it and it annoys some of them. If you listen to the end of the sound “kay” in English, you’ll note there’s a “y” kind of thing going on that rounds out the sound. “Ay” is a diphthong in English–it’s not a pure vowel but a blend of two. If you say “kay” and drop that second vowel, you get the Spanish pronunciation. > > In IPA, the difference is /ke/ vs /keɪ/ (the first being the Spanish “que,” the second being the English “kay.”) Sounds the same to me. 'Course, I picked up a Cajun accent while living in Jefferson Parish so my “ays” are more like “ehs”. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/38 "2017-01-04T02:07:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s a bit nitpicky, but Spanish speakers notice it and it annoys some of them. If you listen to the end of the sound “kay” in English, you’ll note there’s a “y” kind of thing going on that rounds out the sound. “Ay” is a diphthong in English–it’s not a pure vowel but a blend of two. If you say “kay” and drop that second vowel, you get the Spanish pronunciation. > > In IPA, the difference is /ke/ vs /keɪ/ (the first being the Spanish “que,” the second being the English “kay.”) > > Problem is, in American English, at least, we don’t have that vowel used on its own, only in a diphthong. So the English approximations would either be “kay” or “keh.” It’s the same vowel as “yes”, “less”, “mess”, “chess”. It’s like saying “chess” vs “chase”, “less” vs “lace”, “mess” vs “mace”. Anglo mouths can clearly make the sound and Anglo ears can clearly hear the difference, so why do they insist that _que_ is the same as “kay”? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/39 "2017-01-04T02:25:48Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > It’s the same vowel as “yes”, “less”, “mess”, “chess”. No, they are two different vowels. The "e"s you are talking about is [this sound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel), at least in my dialect. The “e” in “que” is [this sound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_front_unrounded_vowel). Perhaps there is some overlap in some dialects, but they are different sounds, and I can understand why to American ears, the “e” in “que” sounds like “ay” more then “eh.” If you click on **Skywatchers** link, that certainly doesn’t sound like “keh” to me, but somewhere halfway between “keh” and “kay” (and it kind of is, since it’s the first half of the “ay” diphthong.) Perhaps I’m more in-tune to it because in one language I somewhat speak, Hungarian, the difference is important and both vowels are used. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007/40 "2017-01-04T04:01:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > No, they are two different vowels. The "e"s you are talking about is [this sound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel), at least in my dialect. The “e” in “que” is [this sound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_front_unrounded_vowel). Perhaps there is some overlap in some dialects, but they are different sounds, and I can understand why to American ears, the “e” in “que” sounds like “ay” more then “eh.” If you click on **Skywatchers** link, that certainly doesn’t sound like “keh” to me, but somewhere halfway between “keh” and “kay” (and it kind of is, since it’s the first half of the “ay” diphthong.) Perhaps I’m more in-tune to it because in one language I somewhat speak, Hungarian, the difference is important and both vowels are used. Now that you point it out to me, I can hear the difference, though I’d be hard pressed to hear it again without someone else pointing it out. Still doesn’t make “kay” right. What do Anglos hear when Spanish speakers ask, “_¿Qué es?_” – “Case?” It must be as they also insist on pronouncing _queso_ as “kay-soh”, which also drives me up the wall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-que-sera-sera/586007.md?page=3)