Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

vestido is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /vɨʃˈtidu/. It means “dress.” Say "vushh-TEE-doo" — the first syllable almost disappears into a quick "uhsh", stress lands on "TI", and the final "o" tightens to "oo".

Say "vushh-TEE-doo" — the first syllable almost disappears into a quick "uhsh", stress lands on "TI", and the final "o" tightens to "oo".

vestido /vɨʃˈtidu/

Stress is on "ti"; the pre-stress "e" all but vanishes into a faint [ɨ] sound, and the "s" before a consonant becomes "sh", both very typical Lisbon reductions.

Listen: vestido

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Sound it out

ves The unstressed "e" shrinks to a barely-there "uh", and because the "s" sits before another consonant it turns into "sh" — together sounding like a quick "vush".

TI The stressed syllable: a crisp, true dental "t" (tongue against the teeth) plus a clear "ee" — never the "chee" sound Brazilian Portuguese would give here.

do Unstressed final syllable; the "d" stays a plain dental "d" (as in English "do"), and the "o" narrows to "oo".

Hear it in a sentence

O vestido é vermelho.

The dress is red.

Listen: O vestido é vermelho.

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"O vestido é vermelho" ("The dress is red") is a simple subject-verb-adjective sentence using "ser" ("é") for an inherent characteristic like color, which is the correct choice over "estar" here. "Vermelho" agrees with the masculine noun "vestido", so it keeps the "-o" ending.

Where English speakers slip

The single biggest European-vs-Brazilian pitfall in this word is the "ti": in Lisbon Portuguese it stays a crisp, true dental "t" as in English "tea", while Brazilian Portuguese would soften it toward a "chee" sound. English speakers coached by Brazilian audio will import that "ch" sound by mistake — keep the tongue on the teeth for a clean European "t".