Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

A clipped 'kuh' sound — closer to the 'k' in 'kit' with a whisper of a vowel than a full 'keh' or 'kay'.

que [kɨ]

Unstressed conjunction; the 'e' reduces to the near-silent central [ɨ], and 'qu' before 'e' is always a hard 'k' sound, never 'kw'.

Listen: que

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Sound it out

qu Always a hard 'k' sound before 'e' or 'i' in Portuguese — never pronounced 'kw' as in English 'queen'.

e Reduces to the barely-there [ɨ] vowel, so the whole word is almost just 'k' plus a puff of air.

Hear it in a sentence

Sei que estás cansado.

I know that you're tired.

Listen: Sei que estás cansado.

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'Sei que estás cansado' uses 'que' as a connector introducing a subordinate clause, similar to English 'that' in 'I know that you're tired' — and just like in casual English, this 'that' is often omissible in English but never in Portuguese; 'que' is required.

Where English speakers slip

Two mistakes stack up here: pronouncing 'qu' as 'kw' (importing English spelling rules), and giving the 'e' a full 'eh' vowel. Correct EP is a quick, almost swallowed 'k' + [ɨ] — 'que estás' runs together closer to 'k'shtash' than 'keh eshtash'.