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Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "chapéu" in Portuguese (Portugal)?
Say "shuh-PEH-oo" almost as one syllable — stress on the second half, and "éu" glides from an open "eh" into a light "oo".
Stress is on the final syllable "péu"; the digraph "ch" is always "sh", and "éu" is a falling diphthong that starts on an open "e" and glides toward "oo", not the separate "eh-oo" sounds an English speaker might insert.
Listen: chapéu
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Ele usa um chapéu no verão.
He wears a hat in summer.
Listen: Ele usa um chapéu no verão.
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"Ele usa um chapéu no verão" ("He wears a hat in summer") uses "usar" for "to wear" clothing or accessories, which is the standard verb choice (not "vestir", which is more for garments you put your body into). "No verão" ("in summer") shows the contraction of "em" + "o" before a masculine noun.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers often split "éu" into two separate beats, saying something like "sha-PEH-oo" with a pause. In natural European Portuguese it's a single smooth diphthong within one syllable — glide the "eh" directly into the "oo" without a break. Brazilian pronunciation is fairly similar here, so this particular sound isn't a major EU-vs-BR contrast point, but the smooth glide still trips up beginners.