Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "em cima" in Portuguese (Portugal)?

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

em cima is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ɐ̃j̃ ˈsimɐ]. It means “up.” Say "ayng SEE-muh" — nasal on "em", then stress the first syllable of "cima".

Say "ayng SEE-muh" — nasal on "em", then stress the first syllable of "cima".

em cima [ɐ̃j̃ ˈsimɐ]

Stress falls on "ci" in "cima"; "em" is a short nasal diphthong pronounced through the nose, not a plain English "em".

Listen: em cima

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Sound it out

em A nasal diphthong sounding like "ayng", the air passing through the nose rather than closing into a hard "m" or "n".

ci Stressed syllable; "c" before "i" sounds like English "s", giving "see".

ma Unstressed final syllable, reduces to a light "muh".

Hear it in a sentence

O livro está em cima da mesa.

The book is up on the table.

Listen: O livro está em cima da mesa.

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"O livro está em cima da mesa" (The book is up on the table) uses the fixed prepositional phrase "em cima de" meaning "on top of", which contracts with "a" (the) to become "da" — a very common contraction pattern beginners must learn (de + a = da, de + o = do, and so on). This phrase is essential vocabulary for describing physical positions of objects.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often pronounce "cima" with a hard "k" or "ts" sound for the "c", influenced by English or Spanish, when in Portuguese "c" before "i" is always a soft "s" sound, identical in both EU and Brazilian varieties. On "em", the common error is dropping the nasalization and saying a plain oral "eng" instead.