Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "guarda-chuva" in Portuguese (Portugal)?

Q: How do you pronounce guarda-chuva in Portuguese (Portugal)?

guarda-chuva is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˌgwaɾdɐˈʃuvɐ/. It means “umbrella.” Say "gwar-duh-SHOO-vuh" — main stress on "chu", with a lighter stress on "guar" at the start; "ch" sounds like "sh".

Say "gwar-duh-SHOO-vuh" — main stress on "chu", with a lighter stress on "guar" at the start; "ch" sounds like "sh".

guarda-chuva /ˌgwaɾdɐˈʃuvɐ/

This compound word (literally "rain-guard") carries its main stress on "chu" in the second half, with a lighter secondary stress on "guar"; "ch" is always pronounced "sh", never "ch" as in English "cheese".

Listen: guarda-chuva

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Sound it out

guarda Carries lighter stress; "gu" before "a" is a hard "g" plus "w" glide, like English "Gwen", and the final unstressed "a" reduces to "uh".

chu The main-stressed syllable; "ch" is always "sh" in Portuguese, so this is "shoo", not "choo".

va Unstressed final syllable, a quick, reduced "vuh".

Hear it in a sentence

Leva o guarda-chuva, vai chover.

Take the umbrella, it's going to rain.

Listen: Leva o guarda-chuva, vai chover.

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"Leva o guarda-chuva, vai chover" ("Take the umbrella, it's going to rain") uses two informal imperatives, "leva" (take) and the near-future construction "vai chover" ("is going to rain", literally "goes to rain"), which is the everyday way to talk about near-term weather. "Guarda-chuva" is a compound noun formed from "guardar" (to keep/guard) and "chuva" (rain), and stays invariable in this hyphenated form for the plural too ("os guarda-chuvas").

Where English speakers slip

The main pitfall is the "ch": English speakers reflexively say "choo" as in English "chew", but Portuguese "ch" is always a soft "sh" sound, so it must be "shoo", never "choo" — mixing this up is one of the most common beginner errors across many Portuguese words, not just this one, and it holds true in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.