Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

quando is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈkwɐ̃du]. It means “when.” Say "KWUNG-doo" — stress the first syllable, which is nasal, and keep the final "o" short.

Say "KWUNG-doo" — stress the first syllable, which is nasal, and keep the final "o" short.

quando [ˈkwɐ̃du]

Stress falls on the first syllable, a nasal vowel; unlike "quem" or "que", the "qu" here does keep a "w" glide because it's followed by "a".

Listen: quando

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Sound it out

qu Before "a", "qu" keeps a "w" glide, like English "qu" in "quantity".

an A nasal vowel, similar to "ung", produced through the nose.

do Unstressed final syllable, the "o" reduces to a short "oo", and the "d" stays a true crisp dental.

Hear it in a sentence

Quando chegas a casa?

When do you arrive home?

Listen: Quando chegas a casa?

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"Quando chegas a casa?" (When do you arrive home?) uses "quando" as a question word at the start of the sentence, followed by the informal "tu" form "chegas". Note "a casa" here means "home" in the sense of "to home", a fixed idiomatic use without an article, different from "a casa" meaning "the house" in other contexts.

Where English speakers slip

Because "qu" behaves differently depending on the following vowel (a glide before "a"/"o", a plain "k" before "e"/"i"), learners sometimes apply the wrong pattern and either add or drop the "w" glide inconsistently. For "quando" specifically, the "w" glide is correct and expected, but the nasal "an" should still be a true nasal vowel, not a plain oral one followed by a hard "n".