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

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

correto is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ku'ʁɛtu]. It means “correct.” Say "koo-HEH-too," with a guttural, throaty r (like the French r or a gentle gargle) for the double-r sound, not a tongue-tap.

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

Say "koo-HEH-too," with a guttural, throaty r (like the French r or a gentle gargle) for the double-r sound, not a tongue-tap.

correto [ku'ʁɛtu]

Stress falls on RE; the double r spelling (rr, or single r at a word-internal boundary here) is pronounced as a uvular fricative in the back of the throat, quite different from the light tapped r elsewhere in Portuguese.

Listen: correto

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Sound it out

cor The unstressed o reduces toward "oo," and this r, because it precedes another r-sound, sets up the strong guttural r of the next syllable.

re This is where the "double r" sound lives (spelled with the second r, functioning like Portuguese rr): a raspy, throaty sound produced at the back of the throat, similar to the French r in "rouge" or a light gargle — quite unlike any English r.

to A true dental t plus the reduced final "oo" vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

O teu horário está correto.

Your schedule is correct.

Listen: O teu horário está correto.

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"O teu horário está correto" (Your schedule is correct) uses "estar" because correctness here is being verified or assessed in the moment — a judgment about a specific state of affairs — which is a common pattern for "correto/errado" even though it can feel like it should be a permanent trait. "Horário" (schedule/timetable) is a useful everyday vocabulary word to pair with this adjective.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers usually try to pronounce this r as a single tap, similar to the r in "largo" or "pesado." But this word's r sound (functioning as a strong/double r) is a completely different sound in European Portuguese: a guttural, uvular fricative made in the back of the throat, closer to clearing your throat gently or the French r. Brazilian Portuguese often realizes this same double-r as a simple English-like h sound, so listeners used to Brazilian media may under-articulate it; the Lisbon version is throatier and more consonantal.