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Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "porta" in Portuguese (Portugal)?
Say 'POR-tuh', with an open 'o' as in 'pot' in the first syllable and the final a shrinking to a light 'uh'.
Stress is on the first syllable; the o here is open (as opposed to the closed o found in unstressed positions), and the r is a soft tap before the t.
Listen: porta
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Fecha a porta, por favor.
Close the door, please.
Listen: Fecha a porta, por favor.
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Fecha a porta, por favor is a simple imperative built from fechar (to close), with the definite article a required before porta even though English would just say 'close the door' — Portuguese almost always keeps the article with concrete nouns like this. Por favor ('please') tags onto the end of the request, its normal position in everyday spoken Portuguese.
Where English speakers slip
Because porta is spelled with a plain o, English speakers often default to a closed, rounded 'oh' sound. In this stressed position the o is actually open, much like the vowel in English 'pot' or 'off' — using the wrong o quality is a subtle but very common giveaway, and it's a distinction Brazilian Portuguese tends to blur more than European Portuguese does.