Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

velho is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written ˈve.ʎu. It means “old.” Say "VEH-lyoo", where "lh" makes a soft "ly" sound like the "lli" in English "million".

Say "VEH-lyoo", where "lh" makes a soft "ly" sound like the "lli" in English "million".

velho ˈve.ʎu

Stress falls on the first syllable "ve"; the "lh" digraph is a single palatal sound, not an "l" followed by an "h".

Listen: velho

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Sound it out

ve A clear, open "veh", like the start of English "vet".

lh A palatal "ly" sound, exactly like the "lli" in "million" or Spanish "ll" — never a plain "l" or a separate "h".

o Final unstressed o, tightened to a short "oo".

Hear it in a sentence

Este edifício é muito velho.

This building is very old.

Listen: Este edifício é muito velho.

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"Este edifício é muito velho" uses "ser" (é) because age here is a lasting characteristic of the building, not a temporary state. "Velho" is one of several adjectives whose sense shifts with position — after the noun (as here) it's literal "old (in age)", while before a noun it can carry a more figurative "longtime/dear" sense.

Where English speakers slip

The most common mistake is pronouncing "lh" as a plain English "l", producing something like "VEL-oo" — but it must be the palatal glide [ʎ], like the "lli" in "million". This digraph is pronounced the same in Brazilian and European Portuguese, so the challenge is avoiding an English-style "l" rather than any BP/EP contrast.