Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

largo is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written ['laɾgu]. It means “wide.” Say "LAHR-goo" with a light, single-tap r (like a fast Spanish r in "pero"), not the English r or a rolled r.

Say "LAHR-goo" with a light, single-tap r (like a fast Spanish r in "pero"), not the English r or a rolled r.

largo ['laɾgu]

Stress is on the first syllable; the r before the consonant g is a light alveolar tap, and the final -o reduces to a short [u].

Listen: largo

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Sound it out

lar An open "ah" followed by a quick tongue-tap r, similar to the r sound in American English "butter" or "ladder" — not the English r in "red."

go A hard g as in English "go," followed by the reduced "oo" vowel typical of unstressed final -o.

Hear it in a sentence

Este rio é largo.

This river is wide.

Listen: Este rio é largo.

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"Este rio é largo" (This river is wide) shows the demonstrative "este" (this) agreeing in gender with the masculine noun "rio." "Largo" describing width is a permanent geographic feature, so "ser" is the natural choice, and this sentence pattern (este/esta + noun + é + adjective) is a handy building block for describing places.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers instinctively reach for the English r — pulling the tongue back without touching the roof of the mouth. In European Portuguese, the r between vowels or before a consonant like this one is a quick single tap of the tongue tip against the ridge behind the upper teeth, closer to a fast "d" sound than to any English r. Using the English r makes "largo" sound noticeably foreign.