Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

cidade is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [siˈda.dɨ]. It means “city.” Say "see-DAH-duh", keeping both d's true dental sounds, with the very final vowel barely audible, almost swallowed.

Say "see-DAH-duh", keeping both d's true dental sounds, with the very final vowel barely audible, almost swallowed.

cidade [siˈda.dɨ]

Stress falls on the second syllable "da"; the final unstressed "-de" reduces so far that the vowel is nearly silent, ending closer to just a light "d" sound.

Listen: cidade

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Sound it out

ci Unstressed, the c before i/e is always pronounced "s", giving "see" — never a "k" or "ch" sound.

da Stressed, an open "dah" with a true dental d.

de Unstressed final syllable: the d stays a true dental d (never an affricate "j"), and the e reduces almost to nothing, closer to a clipped "duh" or even just "d" in fast speech.

Hear it in a sentence

Lisboa é uma cidade bonita.

Lisbon is a beautiful city.

Listen: Lisboa é uma cidade bonita.

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"Lisboa é uma cidade bonita" places the adjective "bonita" after the noun, agreeing in feminine singular with "cidade". "É" (from "ser") is used because being a beautiful city is treated as an inherent, lasting characteristic rather than a temporary state. "Uma" is the feminine indefinite article, matching "cidade".

Where English speakers slip

The word-final "-de" is the key European marker: English speakers often give it a full syllable, "see-DAH-deh", while European Portuguese reduces it almost to silence. Even more importantly, that final d must stay a true dental d — Brazilian Portuguese turns "de" before this kind of reduced vowel into a "dji"-like affricate, so "cidade" can sound almost like "see-DAH-jee" in Brazil, versus a crisp, barely-voiced "see-DAHD" in Lisbon.