Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a camisa is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a kaˈmi.zɐ/. It means “shirt.” ah kah-MEE-zah. The s in the middle buzzes as a z.

ah kah-MEE-zah. The s in the middle buzzes as a z.

a camisa /a kaˈmi.zɐ/

Three syllables, and the middle one carries it. The word is a clean intervocalic-s test with nothing else competing for attention: three syllables, no nasals, no palatalization, and one s that has to buzz.

Listen: a camisa

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Sound it out

ca A firm k before the a and an open "ah," unstressed but clearly pronounced.

mi A plain m opening its own syllable, so nothing nasalizes, and a stressed high "ee." This is the loud centre of the word.

sa A single s between two vowels always voices to a z in Portuguese, so this is "zah" and never "sah." The final a then lightens toward "uh."

Hear it in a sentence

Preciso passar a camisa.

I need to iron the shirt.

Listen: Preciso passar a camisa.

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"Preciso passar a camisa" uses "passar" in its ironing sense, which isn't guessable from the base meaning of passing. "Preciso" also contains an intervocalic s voiced to a z, so the sentence gives you the same rule twice — in "preciso" and in "camisa" — with an unvoiced double s in between.

Where English speakers slip

Saying "kah-MEE-sah" with a hiss is the reading error, and it's persistent for Spanish speakers whose "camisa" is spelled identically with an unvoiced s. In Portuguese an s between vowels buzzes without exception. Reducing the unstressed a's is the second habit.