Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a mão is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a ˈmɐ̃w̃/. It means “hand.” ah MOWNG. One syllable — the vowel of "how" hummed entirely through the nose.

ah MOWNG. One syllable — the vowel of "how" hummed entirely through the nose.

a mão /a ˈmɐ̃w̃/

A monosyllable, with the tilde marking nasality rather than stress. The plural is "mãos," which simply adds an s to the same diphthong — unlike "pão," which becomes "pães," or "coração," which becomes "corações." The -ão family's three plural patterns have to be learned word by word.

Listen: a mão

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Sound it out

m An ordinary m with the lips together, a genuine consonant. It's the only closure in the word, since nothing closes it at the far end.

ão The nasal diphthong: a nasalized central a gliding into a nasalized w, all in one beat and nasal throughout. It stops mid-resonance rather than being closed off by a consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

Lave as mãos antes de comer.

Wash your hands before eating.

Listen: Lave as mãos antes de comer.

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"Lave as mãos antes de comer" uses a formal imperative and links "as mãos" so the article's s voices into the nasal. "Antes de comer" then gives you the palatalized "tcheess," a "djee," and an infinitive whose r evaporates — three quite different endings in a row.

Where English speakers slip

Closing with a hard g gives "mowng" with an audible stop, and breaking it into two syllables gives "mah-ohng." It's one fused beat that simply stops. The near-collision with "mãe" is the other hazard: one glide direction separates hand from mother, and confusing them is memorable in the wrong way.