Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

bonito is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written bu.ˈni.tu. It means “beautiful.” Say "boo-NEE-too" — both o's tighten to "oo" sounds, with stress on the middle syllable.

Say "boo-NEE-too" — both o's tighten to "oo" sounds, with stress on the middle syllable.

bonito bu.ˈni.tu

Stress falls on "ni"; both the first and last o's are unstressed and reduce to a short "oo" in European Portuguese.

Listen: bonito

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Sound it out

bo Unstressed — becomes a quick "boo" rather than a clear "boh".

ni The stressed syllable, a crisp "NEE", with a true dental n.

to The t stays a hard, dental "t" (never softened to "ch"), and the final o tightens to "too".

Hear it in a sentence

Que vestido tão bonito!

What a beautiful dress!

Listen: Que vestido tão bonito!

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"Que vestido tão bonito!" is an exclamation using "que... tão" (what a... so) as an intensifying pattern, similar to "what a beautiful dress!" in English. "Tão" (so) modifies "bonito" and carries its own nasal vowel. This enthusiastic phrasing is common when complimenting something.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often keep the unstressed o's as full "oh" sounds out of habit from spelling, producing "boh-NEE-toh" — but European Portuguese consistently reduces unstressed o's to "oo". Also watch the final "t": it must stay a clean dental "t", not the "tch" affricate common in Brazilian pronunciations before a reduced vowel.