Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

gostar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ɡuʃˈtaɾ]. It means “to like.” Say "goosh-TAR" — the o tightens to an 'oo' sound and the s hisses like 'sh' before the t.

Say "goosh-TAR" — the o tightens to an 'oo' sound and the s hisses like 'sh' before the t.

gostar [ɡuʃˈtaɾ]

Stress falls on the final -tar; the tricky part is the first syllable, where the o closes to 'oo' and the syllable-final s becomes a 'sh' sound because it's followed by a consonant.

Listen: gostar

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Sound it out

gos- The o is pronounced like the 'oo' in "book", not like the o in English "gosh". The s that follows, sitting before another consonant, hisses like 'sh' — together this syllable sounds like "goosh".

-tar Stressed: a crisp, dental t (tongue at the teeth, not the gum ridge as in English) followed by an open 'ah' and a soft final r.

Hear it in a sentence

Gosto muito de ti.

I like you a lot.

Listen: Gosto muito de ti.

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"Gosto muito de ti" ("I like you a lot") shows the crucial pattern that gostar is always followed by de before its object — gostar de alguém/algo, never gostar something directly. Muito here functions as an adverb meaning "a lot" or "very much", modifying the verb rather than an adjective.

Where English speakers slip

The number one mistake is pronouncing gos- with an open English 'oh' sound and a plain 's', producing "GOS-tar" instead of the correct "GOOSH-tar" — both the vowel closing to 'oo' and the s hardening to 'sh' before a consonant are easy to miss when reading straight from the spelling.