Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

coelho is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [kuˈɐʎu]. It means “rabbit.” Say "kwEH-lyoo", where the co- glides quickly into the stressed vowel, and lho is that same soft "ly" sound as in ovelha, ending in a clipped "oo".

Say "kwEH-lyoo", where the co- glides quickly into the stressed vowel, and lho is that same soft "ly" sound as in ovelha, ending in a clipped "oo".

coelho [kuˈɐʎu]

Stress is on the second syllable; the o in co- weakens into a quick glide (almost a w-sound) before the stressed vowel, and lh is one palatal consonant.

Listen: coelho

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Sound it out

co- The unstressed o here shrinks toward a quick glide, so co- sounds almost like "kw" leading into the next vowel.

-E- Stressed open e, the clear center of the word, like English "bed".

lho Same palatal lh sound as in ovelha (like "lli" in "million"), with the final o clipped to "oo".

Hear it in a sentence

O coelho é muito rápido.

The rabbit is very fast.

Listen: O coelho é muito rápido.

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"O coelho é muito rápido" again uses ser (é) for an inherent, defining characteristic — being fast is treated as a permanent trait of rabbits, which is why ser rather than estar is correct here. Muito rápido repeats the intensifier-plus-adverb pattern seen with cavalo, worth noticing as a recurring structure for describing speed.

Where English speakers slip

Beginners often pronounce the initial co- as a full, separate "koh" syllable, but in natural European Portuguese speech it compresses into a quick glide before the stressed vowel; combined with the lh sound (often flattened to a plain l by English speakers), getting both right takes deliberate practice since neither has a direct English equivalent.