Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

sonho is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [ˈso.ɲu]. It means “dream.” Say "SOH-nyoo", where "nh" sounds like the "ny" in "canyon".

Say "SOH-nyoo", where "nh" sounds like the "ny" in "canyon".

sonho [ˈso.ɲu]

Stress is on the first syllable "so"; "nh" is a single palatal consonant (not "n" plus "h"), and the final unstressed "o" is pronounced like a short "oo".

Listen: sonho

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

so A clear, stressed, closed "oh" as in English "go", but shorter, without the glide into "w".

nh A single palatal nasal consonant, like the "ny" in English "canyon" or Spanish "ñ" — never a plain "n" followed by a breathy "h".

o Unstressed final "o" is pronounced like a short "oo" (as in "book"), not "oh".

Hear it in a sentence

O meu sonho é viajar pelo mundo.

My dream is to travel around the world.

Listen: O meu sonho é viajar pelo mundo.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"O meu sonho é viajar pelo mundo" means "My dream is to travel around the world." "É" plus an infinitive (viajar) is a standard way to define or explain something in Portuguese, much like English "is to..."; "pelo" is a contraction of "por" + "o" (through/around + the), used here to mean "around" the world.

Where English speakers slip

Just as with olho, English speakers often split "nh" into a separate "n" and "h" sound. The correct pronunciation is a single fused palatal nasal consonant made with the tongue against the roof of the mouth — practice it alongside olho and montanha to build the same muscle memory, since all three share this consonant.