Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a primavera is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a pɾi.maˈvɛ.ɾɐ/. It means “spring.” ah pree-mah-VEH-rah. Two tapped r's and a wide-open stressed e.

ah pree-mah-VEH-rah. Two tapped r's and a wide-open stressed e.

a primavera /a pɾi.maˈvɛ.ɾɐ/

Four syllables, with the third carrying the accent. The word has a long run-up — three unstressed beats before the accent lands — and Brazilian Portuguese keeps every one of those vowels clear rather than reducing them, which is why it takes noticeably longer to say than an English speaker expects.

Listen: a primavera

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Sound it out

pri A crisp, breathless p with a tap released the moment it ends, then a short high "ee." Keep the cluster tight — an inserted vowel would lengthen an already long word.

ma An ordinary m opening its own syllable, so nothing nasalizes, and an open "ah." Unstressed but fully pronounced.

ve A voiced v and an open e, jaw dropped. This is the stressed syllable and the word's clear peak after three light beats.

ra A single tap of the tongue tip between vowels, then a final a lightening toward "uh." Both r's in this word are taps.

Hear it in a sentence

Na primavera tem muitas flores.

In spring there are lots of flowers.

Listen: Na primavera tem muitas flores.

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"Na primavera tem muitas flores" uses "tem" impersonally to mean there are, thoroughly Brazilian where Portugal would prefer "há." "Flores" ends in a plural s, and "muitas" carries the unwritten nasal — so the sentence hums once and hisses twice.

Where English speakers slip

Rolling either r is the Spanish transfer error; both are single taps. Closing the stressed e is the second problem. And English speakers reduce the three unstressed vowels into schwas, producing "pruh-muh-VEH-ruh," when Portuguese keeps them all distinct.