Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

estar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ɨʃˈtaɾ]. It means “to be (temporary).” Sounds like "ish-TAR" — the first syllable shrinks to a quick "ish" sound, and the stress lands hard on "TAR".

Sounds like "ish-TAR" — the first syllable shrinks to a quick "ish" sound, and the stress lands hard on "TAR".

estar [ɨʃˈtaɾ]

Stress falls on the second syllable -TAR; the unstressed es- is swallowed into a fast [ɨʃ], with the s pronounced like "sh" because it sits before a consonant.

Listen: estar

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Sound it out

es Reduces to a quick "ish" sound — the e is a mumbled schwa-ish vowel and the s becomes "sh" because it's followed by another consonant (t).

t A crisp, true dental "t" as in English "stop", never softened into "ch".

ar Stressed "ar" as in father, ending in the light tapped r.

Hear it in a sentence

Estou a trabalhar agora.

I am working now.

Listen: Estou a trabalhar agora.

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"Estou a trabalhar agora" shows the EP way of forming a continuous tense: estar + a + infinitive, rather than the Brazilian gerund (trabalhando). This construction is one of the clearest grammatical markers separating European from Brazilian Portuguese. Estar (not ser) is correct here because "working right now" is a temporary, ongoing state rather than a permanent trait.

Where English speakers slip

Learners who studied Brazilian Portuguese often say estou trabalhando instead of estou a trabalhar — grammatically understandable in Portugal but a dead giveaway of Brazilian training, and the estar a + infinitive pattern is what natural European speech actually uses. On pronunciation, the initial es- should almost disappear into a soft "ish", not be pronounced as a clear "es" like in Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese.