Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a folha is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a ˈfo.ʎɐ/. It means “leaf.” ah FOH-lyah. The lh is one palatal sound, made with the flat of the tongue.

ah FOH-lyah. The lh is one palatal sound, made with the flat of the tongue.

a folha /a ˈfo.ʎɐ/

Nothing marked here: the first syllable takes it. Because lh counts as a single indivisible consonant for syllabification, the split is fo-lha rather than fol-ha, which puts the stressed vowel in an open syllable where it can be held — and stops the l from ever closing anything.

Listen: a folha

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Sound it out

fo An f and a closed "oh" with rounded lips, carrying the stress. Keep it closed rather than opening it toward "aw."

lha One palatal consonant — Spanish ll, Italian gli — with no l-release before it and no h after. The final a then lightens toward "uh" without disappearing.

Hear it in a sentence

A folha caiu da árvore.

The leaf fell from the tree.

Listen: A folha caiu da árvore.

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"A folha caiu da árvore" contains "caiu," three syllables with the stress on a final i that stands alone. "Da árvore" then links the contraction into the noun's accented a, so the sentence ends with two identical vowels running together.

Where English speakers slip

"FOL-ha" with an audible l and h is the standard lh error. Go straight to the palatal position. The word's range is the other point: "folha" covers a leaf on a tree, a sheet of paper and a page, so "uma folha de papel" is entirely natural despite sounding odd translated literally.