Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

depois is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [dɨˈpojʃ]. It means “after.” Say "duh-POYSH" — stress the second syllable, and finish with the soft EU "sh" sound rather than a hard "s".

Say "duh-POYSH" — stress the second syllable, and finish with the soft EU "sh" sound rather than a hard "s".

depois [dɨˈpojʃ]

Stress falls on the second syllable "pois"; the unstressed first "e" reduces to a very faint "duh", and the final "s" is the characteristic EU "sh".

Listen: depois

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Sound it out

de Unstressed, the "e" reduces almost to a schwa, close to "duh".

poi Stressed diphthong, like English "poy" in "ploy".

s Word-final "s" softens to "sh", as in "shoe", not a hard "s".

Hear it in a sentence

Vamos ao cinema depois do jantar.

We're going to the cinema after dinner.

Listen: Vamos ao cinema depois do jantar.

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"Vamos ao cinema depois do jantar" (We're going to the cinema after dinner) uses "depois de" contracted with "o" (the) to become "depois do", following the same de+article contraction pattern seen elsewhere (do, da, dos, das). "Ao cinema" similarly contracts "a" (to) with "o" (the) into "ao", showing how prepositions and articles routinely fuse in Portuguese.

Where English speakers slip

Learners frequently keep the initial "e" fully pronounced as "deh", when native speakers barely voice it, almost skipping straight to "d'pois". They should also make sure the final "s" is a soft "sh", not the harder "s" sound sometimes heard in Brazilian Portuguese pronunciations of similar word-final "s".