Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

Say 'EH-lush', with the same open 'eh' as 'ele' plus a final soft 'sh' sound for the plural -s.

eles [ˈɛ.lɨʃ]

Stress on the first syllable with the open vowel [ɛ], same as singular 'ele'; the final 'e' reduces to [ɨ] and the plural 's' becomes 'sh' [ʃ].

Listen: eles

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Sound it out

e Stressed, open vowel like English 'bed', unchanged from 'ele'.

le Clear 'l' plus the near-silent [ɨ] vowel.

s The plural marker is pronounced 'sh' [ʃ] at the end of the word, not a plain 's'.

Hear it in a sentence

Eles moram perto daqui.

They live near here.

Listen: Eles moram perto daqui.

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'Eles moram perto daqui' uses 'eles' (they, masculine or mixed group) with 'moram' (live, third-person plural). 'Daqui' is itself a contraction of 'de' + 'aqui' (from here), another example of how Portuguese fuses small words together in everyday speech.

Where English speakers slip

Beyond the same open-vowel issue as 'ele', learners frequently tack a plain English 's' onto the end instead of the required 'sh'. Combined, the safest target is something like 'EH-lush', not the flatter 'eh-less' an English-trained ear might produce.