Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

fazer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [fɐˈzeɾ]. It means “to do/make.” Sounds like "fuh-ZAIR" — the first syllable is a quick, swallowed "fuh", with the stress and full vowel landing on the second syllable.

Sounds like "fuh-ZAIR" — the first syllable is a quick, swallowed "fuh", with the stress and full vowel landing on the second syllable.

fazer [fɐˈzeɾ]

Stress is on the final syllable -zer; the unstressed fa- reduces to a short, central [ɐ] sound rather than a full open "ah".

Listen: fazer

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Sound it out

fa A quick, reduced "fuh" — the a shrinks toward a neutral vowel since it's unstressed.

z A voiced "z" as in English "zoo".

er Stressed "air"-like vowel ending in a light tapped r.

Hear it in a sentence

O que estás a fazer?

What are you doing?

Listen: O que estás a fazer?

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"O que estás a fazer?" is the natural EP way to ask "What are you doing?", again using estar + a + infinitive rather than a gerund. Estás is the informal tu form, appropriate for friends or family; a more formal register would use está with você or the person's name. Fazer here is used as a general-purpose verb for actions, much like English "do".

Where English speakers slip

The biggest pronunciation slip is stressing the first syllable (FA-zer) out of habit from English word stress patterns; European Portuguese always keeps the stress on -zer. Learners exposed to Brazilian media may also expect a softer, more open a in fa-, when EP actually clips it down almost to a schwa.