Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a vez is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a ˈves/. It means “time (occasion).” ah VESS. A tight closed e, and the final z is pronounced as an s.

ah VESS. A tight closed e, and the final z is pronounced as an s.

a vez /a ˈves/

A monosyllable ending in z, stressed by default and unaccented — the same pattern as feliz, rapaz and luz. The plural "vezes" puts the z between vowels, where it buzzes properly, and adds a syllable that pulls the stress onto the second-to-last position by the ordinary rule.

Listen: a vez

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Sound it out

v A clear v with teeth on lip, crisp and clearly distinct from b. Portuguese never merges the two the way Spanish does.

e A closed e — the tight "ay" of "they" with the glide removed. Not the open "eh" of "bet," which would shift the word noticeably.

z Devoiced to a plain s at the end of a word. It buzzes again only when a vowel follows, so "uma vez ou outra" gives you "VEH-zoh."

Hear it in a sentence

Vi isso uma vez.

I saw that once.

Listen: Vi isso uma vez.

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"Vi isso uma vez" links "vi isso" across two vowels with no break, and the final z of "vez" stays unvoiced because nothing follows it. "Isso" has a double s kept unvoiced between vowels, so the sentence contains three unvoiced sibilants and no z sound at all.

Where English speakers slip

Voicing the final z is the reading error, and opening the vowel is the second. Say "VESS" with a tight e. The bigger practical issue is the vez/hora distinction: "vez" is an occasion and "hora" is clock time, so "uma vez" is once and "uma hora" is an hour.