Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

casaco is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kɐˈzaku/. It means “jacket.” Say "kuh-ZA-koo" — stress on the middle syllable, with the "s" sounding like "z" and the final "o" tightening to "oo".

Say "kuh-ZA-koo" — stress on the middle syllable, with the "s" sounding like "z" and the final "o" tightening to "oo".

casaco /kɐˈzaku/

Stress lands on "sa"; the "s" between two vowels is voiced to "z", and the unstressed word-final "o" is pronounced almost like "oo", not the full "oh" an English speaker might expect.

Listen: casaco

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Sound it out

ca Unstressed opening syllable, a quick "kuh" — the "a" is reduced, not a full open "ah".

sa Stressed syllable; the single "s" between vowels sounds like English "z" in "zoo", giving "za".

co Unstressed final syllable — the "o" closes toward "oo", so it lands closer to "koo" than "koh".

Hear it in a sentence

Traz o teu casaco, está frio.

Bring your jacket, it's cold.

Listen: Traz o teu casaco, está frio.

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"Traz o teu casaco, está frio" ("Bring your jacket, it's cold") uses the informal imperative "traz" (from "trazer", to bring) and the impersonal weather expression "está frio", literally "it is cold", which uses "estar" rather than a special weather verb. "Casaco" is the general word for jacket or coat, covering anything worn as an outer layer.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers instinctively pronounce the "s" in "casaco" as a hissing "s", but between two vowels Portuguese always voices it to "z" — so it's "ca-ZA-co", not "ca-SA-co" with an English-style "s". This voicing rule holds in both European and Brazilian Portuguese, but European speakers additionally tighten that final "o" to a short "oo" rather than leaving it open.