Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

fechar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [fɨˈʃaɾ]. It means “to close.” Sounds like "fuh-SHAR" — the first syllable shrinks to a fast "fuh", and ch is pronounced like English "sh", not "ch".

Sounds like "fuh-SHAR" — the first syllable shrinks to a fast "fuh", and ch is pronounced like English "sh", not "ch".

fechar [fɨˈʃaɾ]

Stress falls on -char; the unstressed fe- reduces heavily, and ch is always a single "sh" sound in Portuguese, never the English "ch" as in "chair".

Listen: fechar

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Sound it out

fe Unstressed, reduces to a very quick, muted "fuh".

ch Always pronounced like English "sh" (as in "shoe"), never like English "ch" (as in "chair").

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

Hear it in a sentence

Fecha a porta, por favor.

Close the door, please.

Listen: Fecha a porta, por favor.

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"Fecha a porta, por favor" ("Close the door, please") is an imperative using the tu command form fecha, softened with por favor to keep it polite despite being a direct order. A porta takes its article since it refers to a specific, known door in the room. This kind of short imperative + por favor is the everyday polite way to give simple instructions to someone you're on familiar terms with.

Where English speakers slip

The single most common mistake is pronouncing ch like the English "ch" sound (as in "church"); in Portuguese ch is always "sh", so fechar should sound like "fuh-SHAR", never "fuh-CHAR". This also matters for spelling: since ch and x can both represent "sh" in Portuguese, English intuitions about ch="ch" need to be actively overridden.