Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

filho is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈfi.ʎu]. It means “son.” Say "FEE-lyoo", with the middle consonant like the "lli" in "million", and the final o closed to "oo".

Say "FEE-lyoo", with the middle consonant like the "lli" in "million", and the final o closed to "oo".

filho [ˈfi.ʎu]

Stress falls on the first syllable; the "lh" digraph and reduced final "o" both need attention on the unstressed second syllable.

Listen: filho

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Sound it out

fi Stressed, a clean short "fee".

lh A palatal lateral, like the "lli" in English "million" — not a plain "l", and not the "ly" you'd say if you kept the l and y as two separate sounds.

o Unstressed final o reduces to a short "oo", never a full "oh".

Hear it in a sentence

O teu filho é muito simpático.

Your son is very nice.

Listen: O teu filho é muito simpático.

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"O teu filho é muito simpático" uses "teu" (your, informal singular) rather than the more formal "seu", which in European Portuguese can be ambiguous between "your" and "his/her" — "teu" is unambiguous and common in informal registers. "Simpático" is a classic false friend: it means "nice/friendly", not "sympathetic". Adjective agreement is standard here: "simpático" agrees in the masculine singular with "filho".

Where English speakers slip

The "lh" sound is the main trap — English speakers often substitute a plain "l" ("FEE-lo") instead of the palatal "ʎ". This mistake is shared across both European and Brazilian Portuguese, but European speech tends to clip the final "o" more sharply to "oo", while some Brazilian accents leave it a touch more open, so aim for a crisp, short ending rather than a lingering vowel.