Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a irmã is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a iɦˈmɐ̃/. It means “sister.” ah eeh-MAH(ng). Like the masculine but ending in a plain nasal a, with no w-glide.

ah eeh-MAH(ng). Like the masculine but ending in a plain nasal a, with no w-glide.

a irmã /a iɦˈmɐ̃/

End-stressed, since words ending in a nasal vowel take final stress by rule, and the tilde is marking nasality alone. The masculine-feminine pair is unusually instructive: "irmão" ends in a nasal diphthong and "irmã" in a simple nasal vowel, so the gender difference is carried by the presence or absence of a glide rather than by a vowel swap.

Listen: a irmã

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Sound it out

a Open and unstressed, sliding into the noun's initial "ee" so the two words share one breath.

ir A high "ee" closed by an r that softens to a rasp. Unstressed and quick, identical to the masculine form.

mã An m and then a stressed nasal a with the tilde marking it. Unlike "irmão," there is no glide here — the vowel simply resonates through the nose and stops, with nothing gliding toward a w.

Hear it in a sentence

Tenho duas irmãs.

I have two sisters.

Listen: Tenho duas irmãs.

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"Tenho duas irmãs" uses "duas," the feminine form of two — Portuguese genders that number, so "dois irmãos" and "duas irmãs" both change. The plural "irmãs" adds an s to the nasal vowel without altering it, so the word stays two syllables.

Where English speakers slip

Adding a w-glide gives "eeh-MOWNG," which is the masculine form and changes who you're talking about. Keep the nasal vowel plain. Learners also close it with a consonant, and they forget that "duas" rather than "dois" is required — a gender agreement error that Brazilians notice immediately.