Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

levar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [lɨˈvaɾ]. It means “to take.” Sounds like "luh-VAR" — the first syllable shrinks to a quick "luh", with stress on the second syllable.

Sounds like "luh-VAR" — the first syllable shrinks to a quick "luh", with stress on the second syllable.

levar [lɨˈvaɾ]

Stress falls on -var; the unstressed le- reduces heavily toward a near-schwa sound.

Listen: levar

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Sound it out

le Unstressed, reduces to a fast, muted "luh".

v Voiced "v" as in English "van".

ar Stressed "ar" as in father, ending in a light tapped r.

Hear it in a sentence

Vou levar o guarda-chuva.

I'm going to take the umbrella.

Listen: Vou levar o guarda-chuva.

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"Vou levar o guarda-chuva" ("I'm going to take my umbrella") again uses vou + infinitive for near-future plans. Guarda-chuva is a compound noun (literally "rain-guard") and is masculine, taking o. Levar here means "to take/carry something along", distinct from trazer ("to bring"), a distinction based on direction relative to the speaker that English "take/bring" also makes, though the two verbs are often confused.

Where English speakers slip

Learners often confuse levar and trazer, since both can loosely translate as "take/bring" in English; levar means taking something away from the speaker's current location, while trazer means bringing something toward it. On pronunciation, the unstressed le- should be swallowed into a quick "luh", not pronounced as a clear "leh" the way Spanish-influenced instincts might suggest.