How to Pronounce 'Comprido': Portuguese (Portugal) Pronunciation Guide

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

comprido is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [kõ'pɾidu]. It means “long.” Say "kom-PREE-doo," with the first syllable nasalized (like the "om" hummed through the nose) and a true, tongue-on-teeth d in "-do," never a "j" sound.

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

Say "kom-PREE-doo," with the first syllable nasalized (like the "om" hummed through the nose) and a true, tongue-on-teeth d in "-do," never a "j" sound.

comprido [kõ'pɾidu]

Stress falls on the second syllable, PRI; the "om" is a nasal vowel pronounced partly through the nose, and the final -o again reduces to [u].

Listen: comprido

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Sound it out

com A nasalized "oh" — say "oh" while letting air escape through your nose, similar to the vowel sound in French "bon," not a full "kom" with a hard m.

pri Like English "pree" in "pretty," with a light tapped r — this is the stressed syllable, so keep it crisp and clear.

do A true dental d, tongue tip touching the back of the upper teeth, followed by a reduced "oo" — crucially, never the "j"/"dj" sound Brazilian Portuguese gives d before i-type sounds (this word doesn't even have that context, but it's a good reminder for the pattern).

Hear it in a sentence

O teu cabelo está comprido.

Your hair is long.

Listen: O teu cabelo está comprido.

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"O teu cabelo está comprido" (Your hair is long) uses "estar" rather than "ser" because hair length is a changeable, temporary-feeling state — you could get a haircut tomorrow. This ser/estar distinction is one of the trickiest parts of Portuguese grammar for English speakers, since English "is" doesn't make the distinction at all.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers often flatten the nasal "om" into a plain "kom" with a hard m sound, as if it rhymed with English "tom." In European Portuguese it should be pushed through the nose, more like a nasalized "oh" than a syllable ending in a consonant — the m is not fully pronounced, it just signals nasalization of the vowel before it.