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Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "beber" in Portuguese (Portugal)?
Sounds like "buh-VAIR" — the first syllable shrinks to a fast "buh", and the middle b softens toward a light "v" sound.
Stress is on the second -ber; the unstressed be- reduces heavily to a near-schwa, and the second b, sitting between vowels, softens into a fricative.
Listen: beber
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Hear it in a sentence
Queres beber água?
Do you want to drink water?
Listen: Queres beber água?
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"Queres beber água?" ("Do you want to drink water?") pairs querer with an infinitive, a very common construction for offering something. Água is feminine and begins with a stressed a, so it takes no contracted article change here. The question uses only rising intonation, with no auxiliary "do" needed, since Portuguese forms yes/no questions the same way as statements.
Where English speakers slip
Learners tend to pronounce both b's in beber the same hard way, but in EP only the first (word-initial) b is a true stop — the second, between vowels, softens noticeably. It's also easy to under-reduce the first syllable be-, pronouncing a full "beh" instead of the fast, swallowed "buh" that natural Lisbon speech uses.