Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

rua is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈʁu.ɐ]. It means “street.” Say 'HOO-uh', starting with a rough, throaty 'h'-like sound rather than any kind of English r.

Say 'HOO-uh', starting with a rough, throaty 'h'-like sound rather than any kind of English r.

rua [ˈʁu.ɐ]

Stress falls on the first syllable ru; word-initial r, like double rr, is pronounced as a harsh guttural sound, and the final a is reduced to a light 'uh'.

Listen: rua

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Sound it out

r At the start of a word, r is pronounced the same strong, throaty way as double rr — think of the rasp in the German or French r, not an English or Spanish r.

u A clear, stressed 'oo' as in 'boot'.

a Unstressed final a fades to a soft, central 'uh'.

Hear it in a sentence

Moro nesta rua.

I live on this street.

Listen: Moro nesta rua.

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Moro nesta rua uses morar (to live/reside) in its eu form moro, and nesta contracts em + esta ('in this') to agree with the feminine noun rua — Portuguese habitually fuses prepositions with demonstratives this way, which can look like one unfamiliar word to a beginner reading it cold.

Where English speakers slip

Because English r never sounds like this, learners often default to a soft English-style r at the start of rua, which actually makes it sound like an entirely different, softer word to a native listener. Word-initial r in European Portuguese is just as harsh and guttural as double rr — there is no 'light' version at the start of a word.