Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

se is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sɨ/. It means “if.” Say a quick "suh" — not a clear "seh" like the English letter "S" — with the vowel barely there.

Say a quick "suh" — not a clear "seh" like the English letter "S" — with the vowel barely there.

se /sɨ/

As a one-syllable function word it always carries its own minimal stress, but the vowel itself is reduced almost to a neutral "uh" sound, the hallmark EU Portuguese unstressed "e".

Listen: se

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Sound it out

s A clean English "s" as in "see", not a "z" sound — it stays voiceless at the start of a word.

e Reduces to a very short, central "uh" (like the "a" in "sofa"), never the clear "eh" of Spanish "se" or Brazilian Portuguese.

Hear it in a sentence

Se chover, ficamos em casa.

If it rains, we'll stay home.

Listen: Se chover, ficamos em casa.

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"Se chover, ficamos em casa" uses "se" to open a conditional clause, exactly like English "if". Portuguese conditionals with "se" often pair with the future subjunctive ("chover") rather than a simple present, which is a distinct verb form English doesn't have — a common early grammar hurdle. The comma splits the "if" clause from the result clause, just as in English.

Where English speakers slip

Learners coming from Spanish ("si") or reading the spelling literally tend to say a full, bright "seh", but European Portuguese swallows the vowel down to almost nothing — closer to just "s" with a whisper of "uh" after it. This under-reduction is one of the fastest ways to sound non-native, since "se" is so frequent in speech.