Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

chuva is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈʃu.vɐ]. It means “rain.” Say "SHOO-vuh" — starts like English "shoe", ends in a soft, swallowed "vuh".

Say "SHOO-vuh" — starts like English "shoe", ends in a soft, swallowed "vuh".

chuva [ˈʃu.vɐ]

Stress is on the first syllable "chu"; the final "a" reduces to a weak central vowel, and "ch" is always a single "sh" sound in Portuguese, never "ch" as in "chair".

Listen: chuva

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Sound it out

ch Always pronounced like English "sh" in "shoe" — Portuguese "ch" is never the "ch" of "chip".

u A clear, tense "oo" as in "moon", carrying the main stress.

va A soft "v" (touch upper teeth to lower lip, as in English "van") followed by the reduced, swallowed final "a" ("uh").

Hear it in a sentence

Gosto do som da chuva.

I like the sound of rain.

Listen: Gosto do som da chuva.

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"Gosto do som da chuva" means "I like the sound of the rain." Note "gosto de" (to like) contracts with the definite article "o" to form "gosto do" — a fusion (de + o = do) that beginners must memorize since it happens automatically whenever "de" meets "o" or "a".

Where English speakers slip

The biggest trap is reading "ch" as an English "ch" sound; it must be a soft "sh". A secondary EU-specific point: don't fully voice the final "a" the way Brazilian speakers often do — in Lisbon speech it's clipped almost to nothing, more like "CHOO-v" with a ghost of a vowel.