Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

vermelho is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written [vɨɾˈmeʎu]. It means “red.” Roughly "vur-MEH-lyoo" — the first syllable shrinks to a quick "vur," the stress lands on "me," and "lh" sounds like the "lli" in English "million."

Roughly "vur-MEH-lyoo" — the first syllable shrinks to a quick "vur," the stress lands on "me," and "lh" sounds like the "lli" in English "million."

vermelho [vɨɾˈmeʎu]

Stress falls on the second syllable "me"; the first, unstressed "ver" reduces heavily toward "vur," and the final "o" shrinks to "oo."

Listen: vermelho

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Sound it out

ver Unstressed, so it collapses toward a quick "vur" sound rather than the fuller "ver" you might expect from the spelling.

me The stressed syllable, with a closed "e" like in English "they" but shorter.

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

o This final unstressed "o" reduces toward "oo."

Hear it in a sentence

O carro é vermelho.

The car is red.

Listen: O carro é vermelho.

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"O carro é vermelho" means "The car is red." This uses "é," from the verb "ser" (to be), appropriate here because color is treated as an inherent, defining characteristic of the car rather than a temporary state — one of the classic "ser vs. estar" distinctions beginners work through.

Where English speakers slip

Learners frequently give the unstressed "ver-" its full spelled-out value instead of reducing it, and often flatten "lh" into a plain English "l." Because EU Portuguese swallows unstressed vowels much more aggressively than Brazilian Portuguese does, this word can end up sounding close to four clear syllables when spoken by a Brazilian-trained ear, rather than the compressed "vur-MEH-lyoo" a Lisbon speaker would actually say.