Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

cozinha is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [kuˈzi.ɲɐ]. It means “kitchen.” Say 'koo-ZEE-nyuh', with the first o sounding like 'oo' and nh giving a soft, y-colored 'ny' sound.

Say 'koo-ZEE-nyuh', with the first o sounding like 'oo' and nh giving a soft, y-colored 'ny' sound.

cozinha [kuˈzi.ɲɐ]

Stress falls on the second syllable zi; the unstressed first o is pronounced as a closed 'oo' rather than 'oh', and nh is a single palatal nasal sound.

Listen: cozinha

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Sound it out

co Unstressed, so the o is pronounced as a closed 'oo', like the first syllable of English 'coo-perate', not 'koh'.

zi The stressed syllable, a clear, bright 'zee'.

nha A single palatal nasal sound, like the 'ny' in English 'canyon', followed by an unstressed, reduced final a.

Hear it in a sentence

A cozinha é pequena mas bonita.

The kitchen is small but nice.

Listen: A cozinha é pequena mas bonita.

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A cozinha é pequena mas bonita links two adjectives with mas ('but'), both agreeing in the feminine singular with cozinha — pequena and bonita each take the -a ending. This kind of two-adjective contrast sentence is a common building block for describing rooms and objects at a beginner level.

Where English speakers slip

The unstressed initial o is the sneaky part: English spelling instincts push learners toward 'koh-ZEE-nya', but European Portuguese reduces that first, unstressed o all the way to 'oo'. This reduction is generally stronger and more consistent in Lisbon speech than in Brazilian Portuguese, where unstressed o's are often left a little more open.