Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

paz is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈpaʃ]. It means “peace.” Say "PASH", with the final "z" sounding like "sh", not like an English "z".

Say "PASH", with the final "z" sounding like "sh", not like an English "z".

paz [ˈpaʃ]

One syllable; the vowel is a full, clear "ah", and the standout feature is the word-final "z", which European Portuguese devoices into a "sh" sound.

Listen: paz

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Sound it out

p A plain, unaspirated English "p" as in "pot", with less breathy release than in English.

a A full, open "ah" as in "father", since it's stressed.

z At the end of a word, European Portuguese "z" (like final "s") devoices into a "sh" sound as in English "wash" — not the buzzing "z" of English "buzz".

Hear it in a sentence

Queremos paz no mundo.

We want peace in the world.

Listen: Queremos paz no mundo.

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"Queremos paz no mundo" means "We want peace in the world." "Queremos" is the first-person-plural present of querer (to want), and "no mundo" contracts "em" + "o" (in + the) into "no" — one of several common Portuguese contractions beginners need to internalize alongside "do" and "da" seen earlier in this set.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers almost always voice the final "z" as a buzzing "z", the way they would in the English word "jazz". European Portuguese instead devoices word-final s and z sounds into "sh" — this is one of the most recognizable markers of the Lisbon accent, and skipping it is an immediate giveaway of a foreign or Brazilian-influenced pronunciation, since Brazilian Portuguese keeps this final consonant as a plain "s" or "z" sound rather than "sh".