Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

liberdade is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [li.bɨɾˈda.dɨ]. It means “freedom.” Say "lee-brr-DAH-duh", with the strongest punch on the third syllable and the second syllable nearly swallowed.

Say "lee-brr-DAH-duh", with the strongest punch on the third syllable and the second syllable nearly swallowed.

liberdade [li.bɨɾˈda.dɨ]

Stress is on the third syllable "da"; the second syllable "ber" reduces heavily (the e almost disappears before the r), and the final "de" trails off to a faint central sound.

Listen: liberdade

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Sound it out

li A clear, unstressed but still fairly full "lee", as in English "leave".

ber The unstressed "e" reduces almost to nothing before the tapped "r", so this syllable sounds closer to "brr" than a full "bair".

dade A clear, stressed, open "DAH" (true dental "d"), followed by a faint, barely-voiced final "de" — the same reduced final "e" pattern seen in verdade.

Hear it in a sentence

A liberdade é um direito de todos.

Freedom is a right for everyone.

Listen: A liberdade é um direito de todos.

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"A liberdade é um direito de todos" means "Freedom is a right for everyone." "É" (from ser) fits here because this states a general, principled truth; "direito de todos" literally means "a right of everyone", showing how Portuguese uses "de" where English uses "for" or a possessive in this kind of abstract statement.

Where English speakers slip

The four-syllable length tempts English speakers to give each syllable roughly equal weight, the way they might in an English word like "liberty". European Portuguese instead compresses the unstressed syllables — especially the second, "ber" — so the word has a lopsided rhythm leaning hard onto "DA", quite different from the more evenly-stressed pronunciation typical of Brazilian Portuguese.