Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

nada is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈnadɐ/. It means “nothing.” Say "NAH-duh" — a clear stressed "NAH" up front, then a fast, swallowed "duh" at the end.

Say "NAH-duh" — a clear stressed "NAH" up front, then a fast, swallowed "duh" at the end.

nada /ˈnadɐ/

Stress is on the first syllable with a full open "a"; the final "a" is unstressed and reduces to a quick "uh" sound.

Listen: nada

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Sound it out

na A clear, open "nah", stressed and held slightly longer than the second syllable.

da Unstressed and reduced — the "a" here sounds like "uh", not the full "ah" of the first syllable, so the word doesn't sound symmetrical despite the matching spelling.

Hear it in a sentence

Não quero nada, obrigado.

I don't want anything, thanks.

Listen: Não quero nada, obrigado.

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"Não quero nada, obrigado" means "I don't want anything, thanks", and shows the classic Portuguese double-negative structure: "não" plus "nada" both appear in the same sentence, unlike English where double negatives are grammatically wrong. This is required, not optional — leaving out "não" and using "nada" alone shifts it to a more formal or literary register, so beginners should keep both words together.

Where English speakers slip

Because Portuguese requires "não... nada" together, English speakers fluent in avoiding double negatives sometimes drop the "não", saying just "Quero nada" to mean "I want nothing" — grammatically fine in isolation but not how a fluent speaker would phrase a polite refusal. On pronunciation, watch that the second "a" stays reduced to "uh"; giving it the same full "ah" as the first syllable makes the word sound overly deliberate and non-native.