Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

nós is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [nɔʃ]. It means “we.” Say 'NAWSH' — an open 'aw' vowel (like 'off') followed by a soft 'sh', not a plain 's'.

Say 'NAWSH' — an open 'aw' vowel (like 'off') followed by a soft 'sh', not a plain 's'.

nós [nɔʃ]

Single syllable, stressed, marked by the acute accent, which signals the open vowel [ɔ]; the word-final 's' becomes 'sh' [ʃ] as usual.

Listen: nós

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Sound it out

n Same as English 'n'.

ó An open 'o', like the vowel in English 'off' or 'saw' — the accent mark confirms this open quality, distinguishing it from a closed 'oh'.

s Word-final 's' is 'sh' [ʃ] in EP, like the end of English 'wash', never a hissing English 's'.

Hear it in a sentence

Nós vamos ao cinema.

We are going to the cinema.

Listen: Nós vamos ao cinema.

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'Nós vamos ao cinema' uses 'nós' (we) with 'vamos' (we go). Because 'vamos' already marks the first-person-plural subject, 'nós' is often optional and added mainly for emphasis or clarity — dropping it is completely natural in casual speech.

Where English speakers slip

Learners tend to under-open the accented 'ó' and also default to a plain English 's' at the end. Both need adjusting: the vowel should be as open as in English 'saw', and the final consonant should hiss like 'sh' — together giving something closer to 'nawsh' than the 'nohs' an English speaker might guess from the spelling.