How to Pronounce 'Família': Portuguese (Portugal) Pronunciation Guide

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

família is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [fɐˈmi.liɐ]. It means “family.” Say "fuh-MEE-lyuh", stressing the second syllable and letting the final "-ia" run together quickly as one soft "lyuh".

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

Say "fuh-MEE-lyuh", stressing the second syllable and letting the final "-ia" run together quickly as one soft "lyuh".

família [fɐˈmi.liɐ]

Stress falls on "mí", marked by the accent; this is important because without it, Portuguese default stress rules would otherwise fall on the second-to-last syllable and produce a different (incorrect) rhythm.

Listen: família

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Sound it out

fa Unstressed initial syllable, reduced to "fuh".

mí The stressed syllable, a clear "mee".

lia Runs together quickly as one unit, close to "lyuh" — the i glides into the final unstressed a rather than forming its own full syllable in natural speech.

Hear it in a sentence

A minha família é grande.

My family is big.

Listen: A minha família é grande.

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"A minha família é grande" is a simple, high-frequency sentence pattern: subject, "ser" (to describe an inherent, lasting quality), and adjective. "Grande" is invariable in form between masculine and feminine singular (it doesn't change to "granda"), which is a useful pattern to notice since many adjectives ending in "-e" behave this way. The possessive again requires the definite article: "a minha família", literally "the my family".

Where English speakers slip

English speakers often give "-ia" its full three-letter-sound value, saying something like "fah-MEE-lee-ah" with a distinct extra syllable; in natural European Portuguese speech that ending compresses into something closer to "lyuh", almost merging into two syllables' worth of sound rather than three. Brazilian speakers tend to articulate this ending a bit more fully and clearly, so leaning too far into a crisp, separated "-li-a" will sound more Brazilian than Portuguese.