Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

jogar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ʒuˈɡaɾ]. It means “to play.” Say "zhoo-GAR" — the j is the soft 'zh' sound, the o tightens to 'oo', and stress falls on the final syllable.

Say "zhoo-GAR" — the j is the soft 'zh' sound, the o tightens to 'oo', and stress falls on the final syllable.

jogar [ʒuˈɡaɾ]

Stress falls on the last syllable -gar; the initial jo- is unstressed, and its o closes from the expected 'oh' to an 'oo' sound.

Listen: jogar

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

jo- J is pronounced like the 's' in "measure" (a soft 'zh'), never like an English 'j'. The o, being unstressed, closes to 'oo' rather than staying an open 'oh'.

-gar Stressed: a hard g as in "go" (never soft), an open 'ah', and a soft final r.

Hear it in a sentence

Vamos jogar futebol.

Let's play football.

Listen: Vamos jogar futebol.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Vamos jogar futebol" ("Let's play football") uses vamos + infinitive as an everyday way to say "let's...", identical in structure to French aller + infinitive or the English "going to" future — a very common conversational pattern worth learning early. Futebol borrows directly from English "football" and, as in most of the world outside the US, refers to what Americans call soccer.

Where English speakers slip

The common error is pronouncing jo- with an English 'j' sound and a full 'oh' vowel, producing "joh-GAR" instead of the correct "zhoo-GAR"; the j-as-'zh' rule applies throughout Portuguese regardless of European or Brazilian variety, so this particular fix isn't about accent choice — it's simply learning that Portuguese j never sounds like English j.