Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "bebé" in Portuguese (Portugal)?

Q: How do you pronounce bebé in Portuguese (Portugal)?

bebé is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [bɛˈbɛ]. It means “baby.” Say "beh-BEH", stressing the final syllable with an open "eh" vowel both times, like the e in English "bed".

Say "beh-BEH", stressing the final syllable with an open "eh" vowel both times, like the e in English "bed".

bebé [bɛˈbɛ]

Stress falls on the final syllable, marked by the accent; note this is the European spelling "bebé" (not the Brazilian "bebê"), and both vowels are the same open "eh" quality.

Listen: bebé

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Sound it out

be Unstressed first syllable, an open "eh" like in "bed", slightly shortened.

bé Stressed final syllable, the same open "eh" vowel, held slightly longer and marked with an acute accent.

Hear it in a sentence

O bebé está a dormir.

The baby is sleeping.

Listen: O bebé está a dormir.

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"O bebé está a dormir" again shows the European "estar a + infinitive" progressive construction, here with "dormir" (to sleep). This is one of the clearest grammatical fingerprints separating European from Brazilian Portuguese, which would instead say "o bebê está dormindo". The definite article "o" is used generically here even without a specific baby previously mentioned, which is normal in Portuguese for general statements.

Where English speakers slip

The spelling itself is the biggest trap: European Portuguese writes and says "bebé" with an open final é, while Brazilian Portuguese uses "bebê" with a closed final ê — mixing up the accent changes both the spelling and the vowel quality, so make sure to use the open "eh" sound consistently on both syllables when speaking European Portuguese, not the closed "ay"-like vowel a Brazilian pronunciation would use on the ending.