Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de nada" in Portuguese (Portugal)?

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

de nada is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [dɨˈnaðɐ]. It means “you're welcome.” duh-NAH-duh — 'de' is a quick, almost swallowed 'duh' sound; stress lands on 'NA'; final 'da' ends in a soft, short 'duh', not a full 'dah'.

duh-NAH-duh — 'de' is a quick, almost swallowed 'duh' sound; stress lands on 'NA'; final 'da' ends in a soft, short 'duh', not a full 'dah'.

de nada [dɨˈnaðɐ]

Stress falls on 'na'; the unstressed 'e' in 'de' reduces to a barely-there schwa, and the final 'a' in 'nada' is also unstressed and shortened.

Listen: de nada

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Sound it out

de Unstressed 'e' collapses to a faint schwa (like the 'e' in English 'the' said quickly) — closer to just 'd' with a whisper of a vowel than a full 'deh'.

na Stressed syllable: clear open 'ah' vowel as in 'father', carrying the full length and emphasis of the phrase.

da Unstressed final syllable: the same 'd' sound, but the 'a' here is shorter and more closed than the stressed 'na', trailing off quickly.

Hear it in a sentence

De nada, foi um prazer.

You're welcome, it was a pleasure.

Listen: De nada, foi um prazer.

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"De nada" literally means "of nothing," directly paralleling Spanish "de nada." "Foi um prazer" ("it was a pleasure") is a warmer follow-up often added to soften or extend the exchange in polite conversation.

Where English speakers slip

Learners tend to pronounce "de" with a full, clear "deh" vowel; in European Portuguese it should be nearly swallowed into a quick, muted schwa. This unstressed-vowel reduction is much stronger than in Brazilian Portuguese, where "de" often keeps a more distinct "dji"-like quality — getting the EP reduction right is the key marker here.