Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a música is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a ˈmu.zi.kɐ/. It means “music.” ah MOO-zee-kah. Accent on the first syllable, and the s between vowels buzzes as a z.

ah MOO-zee-kah. Accent on the first syllable, and the s between vowels buzzes as a z.

a música /a ˈmu.zi.kɐ/

Three syllables back from the end is where the weight lands, and Portuguese always marks that in writing. The related adjective "musical" moves the weight to its own final syllable and drops the accent entirely, because it now ends in l and the default rule takes over.

Listen: a música

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Sound it out

mú A straightforward m opening the word and an accented rounded "oo." The acute marks the stress, and the two syllables after it should tumble out quickly.

si A single s between two vowels, so it voices to a z, followed by a short unstressed "ee." The spelling shows an s and the sound is a z.

ca A k with no aspiration before the a and a final a settling toward "uh." The word ends quietly, well behind the accented opening.

Hear it in a sentence

Gosto de música brasileira.

I like Brazilian music.

Listen: Gosto de música brasileira.

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"Gosto de música brasileira" uses "gostar de," so the "de" is a quick "djee" — and it lands right before a word whose stressed syllable also contains a buzzing z. "Brasileira" then adds a tapped r and a stressed "ei" diphthong.

Where English speakers slip

Devoicing the s gives "MOO-see-kah," the reading error, and ignoring the accent gives "moo-ZEE-kah." Both are common and both are wrong. Spanish speakers have "música" spelled identically, with the accent in the right place but an unvoiced s — so half of it transfers and half doesn't.