Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "a cabeça" in Portuguese (Brazil)?

Q: How do you pronounce a cabeça in Portuguese (Brazil)?

a cabeça is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a kaˈbe.sɐ/. It means “head.” ah kah-BEH-sah. The ç is just an s, and the stressed e is the tight closed kind.

ah kah-BEH-sah. The ç is just an s, and the stressed e is the tight closed kind.

a cabeça /a kaˈbe.sɐ/

Loud on the middle syllable, by the -a default. The cedilla is a pure spelling device here: it appears before a, o and u only, since c is already soft before e and i — which is why "cabeça" keeps its hook and a form like "cabecinha" drops it.

Listen: a cabeça

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Sound it out

ca The c is hard before the a and an open "ah," unstressed but fully pronounced. Portuguese doesn't hollow this vowel out the way English would.

be A b formed with the lips fully closing and a closed e — the tight "ay" of "they" with its glide removed. This is the stressed syllable.

ça The cedilla forces a soft s before an a, where a plain c would have been a k. The final a lightens toward "uh" without disappearing.

Hear it in a sentence

Estou com dor de cabeça.

I have a headache.

Listen: Estou com dor de cabeça.

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"Estou com dor de cabeça" uses "estar com" for physical states, the Portuguese pattern — you are with a headache rather than having one. "Dor" has a breathy final r and "de" is a quick "djee," so the phrase runs "doh-djee-kah-BEH-sah."

Where English speakers slip

Reading the ç as a k defeats its purpose entirely. It's an s. Opening the stressed e is the second error, since Portuguese wants the tight closed vowel here. And the "estar com" construction is the grammatical trap: "tenho dor de cabeça" is possible but "estou com dor de cabeça" is what Brazilians actually say.