Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

fora is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈfɔɾɐ]. It means “outside.” Say "FAW-ruh" — stress the first syllable with an open "aw" vowel, and keep the final "a" light.

Say "FAW-ruh" — stress the first syllable with an open "aw" vowel, and keep the final "a" light.

fora [ˈfɔɾɐ]

Stress falls on the first syllable, which has an open [ɔ]; the final "a" is unstressed and reduces to a quick "uh".

Listen: fora

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Sound it out

fo Stressed, open "aw" vowel, like English "for" without the "r" glide.

r A single tapped "r", a quick flick of the tongue, not an English "r".

a Unstressed final vowel, reduces to a light "uh".

Hear it in a sentence

Vamos comer fora hoje.

Let's eat outside today.

Listen: Vamos comer fora hoje.

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"Vamos comer fora hoje" (Let's eat outside today) uses "fora" idiomatically to mean "out" in the sense of "eating out" at a restaurant, not just "outdoors" — a nuance beginners should notice since the literal and idiomatic meanings overlap only partly with English "outside". "Vamos" here functions as a "let's" suggestion, the first-person plural of "ir" used informally to propose an action.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often pronounce the tapped "r" as an English "r", which sounds noticeably foreign to native ears; it should be a quick single flick of the tongue against the ridge behind the upper teeth, closer to a Spanish single "r" or the American English "tt" in "butter". They should also avoid rounding the first vowel too much toward "oh" — it stays a more open "aw".