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Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "saber" in Portuguese (Portugal)?
Sounds like "suh-VAIR" — the b in the middle softens toward a light "v"-like sound, and stress falls on the second syllable.
Stress is on -ber; the unstressed sa- reduces to a quick central [ɐ], and between vowels the b softens into a fricative closer to English v than a hard b.
Listen: saber
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Sabes onde fica a estação?
Do you know where the station is?
Listen: Sabes onde fica a estação?
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"Sabes onde fica a estação?" ("Do you know where the station is?") pairs sabes with fica, from ficar, which Portuguese often prefers over ser/estar for asking where something is located. Onde introduces the indirect question, and no question-word inversion is needed since intonation and onde alone signal it's a question. This phrasing is extremely common for asking directions.
Where English speakers slip
Learners tend to pronounce the b in saber as a hard stop like English "b", but between vowels in EP it's a soft fricative with the lips barely touching, closer to a gentle v-sound — over-articulating it sounds noticeably foreign. It's also easy to confuse saber (to know facts/how to do something) with conhecer (to know/be familiar with people or places), a distinction English "to know" doesn't make.