Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a pedra is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a ˈpɛ.dɾɐ/. It means “stone / rock.” ah PEH-drah. A wide-open stressed e and a tight dr cluster with one tapped r.

ah PEH-drah. A wide-open stressed e and a tight dr cluster with one tapped r.

a pedra /a ˈpɛ.dɾɐ/

The ordinary rule lands on the first syllable. The word's second syllable crams a d, a tap and a vowel into a single unstressed beat, which is very characteristic of Portuguese — the language is comfortable loading clusters into weak positions, and it's part of why it sounds quicker than it is.

Listen: a pedra

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Sound it out

pe A clean p and an open e — jaw dropped, like the vowel in "bet." This is the stressed syllable, and the openness isn't marked anywhere.

dra A hard d with a single tap right behind it, then a final a relaxing toward "uh." The d stays hard because the next sound is an r rather than an i, and the cluster must be tight.

Hear it in a sentence

Achei uma pedra bonita.

I found a pretty stone.

Listen: Achei uma pedra bonita.

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"Achei uma pedra bonita" opens with "achei," whose ch is a "sh" and whose "ei" is a stressed diphthong. The adjective then agrees with the feminine noun, and "bonita" keeps its first o unraised — since only a word-final unstressed o lifts.

Where English speakers slip

Breaking the dr cluster gives "PEH-duh-rah," and closing the stressed e is the second error. Spanish speakers have "piedra," whose diphthong adds a glide Portuguese doesn't have, and they tend to roll the r as well — three separate adjustments from one very similar-looking word.