Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

tentar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [tẽˈtaɾ]. It means “to try.” Say "teh(n)-TAR" with the first vowel nasalized — no hard English n, just a nasal hum before the stressed second syllable.

Say "teh(n)-TAR" with the first vowel nasalized — no hard English n, just a nasal hum before the stressed second syllable.

tentar [tẽˈtaɾ]

Stress falls on the final -tar; ten- is a nasal vowel, and both t's stay true, crisp dental t sounds — neither one softens or changes quality despite sitting next to e.

Listen: tentar

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

Sound it out

ten- A nasal vowel resembling a nasalized 'eh', with air flowing through the nose rather than a hard n consonant closing the syllable as in English "ten".

-tar Stressed: a crisp, dental t (tongue at the teeth, not the gum ridge), an open 'ah', and a soft final r.

Hear it in a sentence

Vou tentar outra vez.

I'm going to try again.

Listen: Vou tentar outra vez.

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

"Vou tentar outra vez" ("I'll try again") uses vou (from ir, "to go") plus infinitive, the same near-future construction seen with vais responder — extremely productive in everyday speech. Outra vez literally means "another time" and is the standard way to say "again", distinct from de novo, which is more typical of Brazilian Portuguese.

Where English speakers slip

Because neither t in tentar sits directly before an i, there's no palatalization risk here — but learners transferring habits from Brazilian Portuguese sometimes still soften t's reflexively out of general habit; in European Portuguese every t, including both in tentar, stays a firm, unaspirated dental stop with no 'ch'-like softening at all.