Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

a árvore is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a ˈaɦ.vo.ɾi/. It means “tree.” ah AH-voh-ree. Accent on the first syllable, a rasped r, then a tapped one.

ah AH-voh-ree. Accent on the first syllable, a rasped r, then a tapped one.

a árvore /a ˈaɦ.vo.ɾi/

Third-from-last stress once more, written out exactly as the rule requires. The word is a particularly good r-drill because its two r's sit in different positions and behave completely differently — and the accent falls on the one that barely sounds at all.

Listen: a árvore

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

ár An accented wide-open a with an r finishing the syllable as a light throat rasp. The acute marks the stress; the r contributes friction and nothing more.

vo A firm v and a closed "oh," unstressed. It sits quietly between the accented opening and the tap at the end.

re A brief flick of the tongue tip between vowels, then a final e heard as "ee." So the word holds both Portuguese r-types, a rasp and a tap, two syllables apart.

Hear it in a sentence

A árvore tem muitas folhas.

The tree has many leaves.

Listen: A árvore tem muitas folhas.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"A árvore tem muitas folhas" links the article's "ah" into the noun's identical accented vowel, so the two nearly merge. "Folhas" then ends on an lh plus a plural s, and "muitas" carries its unwritten nasal.

Where English speakers slip

Treating both r's alike, usually as English curls, flattens the word's internal variety — the first is breath and the second is a tap. Ignoring the accent to say "ar-VOH-ree" is the rhythmic error. And the doubled "a" at the article boundary invites a hard break that Brazilians don't make.