Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

pouco is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈpo.ku]. It means “little/few.” Say "POH-koo" — the "ou" is a plain, monophthong "oh" sound in European Portuguese, not a diphthong.

Say "POH-koo" — the "ou" is a plain, monophthong "oh" sound in European Portuguese, not a diphthong.

pouco [ˈpo.ku]

Stress is on the first syllable; the historic "ou" spelling is pronounced as a single pure vowel [o], unlike English "ou".

Listen: pouco

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Sound it out

p Like English "p", but without the puff of air (aspiration) English speakers add.

ou A single pure "oh" vowel — do not glide toward "oo" the way English "ow" or "oh" diphthongs do.

co Unstressed final syllable, "o" shrinks to a short, weak "oo".

Hear it in a sentence

Tenho pouco tempo hoje.

I have little time today.

Listen: Tenho pouco tempo hoje.

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"Tenho pouco tempo hoje" (I have little time today) shows "pouco" as an adjective agreeing with the masculine noun "tempo" — it would become "pouca" before a feminine noun like "pouca água". "Tenho" (I have) is one of the most common irregular verb forms beginners must memorize early, from the verb "ter".

Where English speakers slip

The biggest mistake is pronouncing "ou" as a diphthong (gliding from one vowel sound to another), which is natural for English speakers but wrong in EU Portuguese, where "ou" collapses to a single [o] sound. Brazilian Portuguese sometimes keeps more of a diphthong quality in casual speech, so learners exposed to Brazilian media may carry that habit over incorrectly.