LingoDrop
Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "porque" in Portuguese (Portugal)?
Say "poor-KEH" — the first syllable is a fast, swallowed "poor" and all the weight lands on "KEH" at the end.
Stress falls on the final syllable "que"; the unstressed "por" reduces so much its "o" sounds closer to "oo" than a full "or".
Listen: porque
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Não vou à festa porque estou cansado.
I'm not going to the party because I'm tired.
Listen: Não vou à festa porque estou cansado.
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"Não vou à festa porque estou cansado" shows "porque" doing the same job as English "because", introducing the reason clause at the end of the sentence. Note it's one word here (giving a reason), which contrasts with "por que" (two words, used in questions) and "por quê" (accented, used standalone) — a distinction that trips up even intermediate learners. Word order is identical to English: main clause, then "porque" plus the reason.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers often stress the first syllable, saying "POR-keh" like the start of "porcupine", when native EU speakers barely voice that "por" at all and punch the "que". Brazilian speakers also tend to open the final vowel more toward "keh" with a brighter, more resonant "e" — in Lisbon speech it stays shorter and slightly more closed, almost clipped.