Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "bem" in Portuguese (Brazil)?

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

bem is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /bẽj̃/. It means “well / fine.” BAYNG. A nasal diphthong in one beat, with the lips never closing at the end.

BAYNG. A nasal diphthong in one beat, with the lips never closing at the end.

bem /bẽj̃/

A single syllable, stressed by default and unaccented. Its relative "também" is the instructive comparison: that word needs an acute accent precisely because -em endings are otherwise stressed on the second-to-last syllable, and "também" breaks the pattern. A monosyllable has no pattern to break.

Listen: bem

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Sound it out

b A b with the lips fully together, an ordinary stop. It's the only genuine consonant in the word, since the m at the other end doesn't get pronounced.

em Not "em" but a nasal diphthong: a closed e gliding toward a nasalized y, giving "ayng." The m is an orthographic marker, and closing your lips on it adds a sound that isn't there.

Hear it in a sentence

Estou bem, obrigado.

I'm fine, thanks.

Listen: Estou bem, obrigado.

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"Estou bem, obrigado" is the standard reply, usually shortened to "tô bem" in speech. The nasal of "bem" runs straight into the initial vowel of "obrigado," colouring it slightly — nasal resonance in Portuguese tends to bleed across word boundaries rather than stopping neatly.

Where English speakers slip

Closing the lips gives an audible "bem" like the English name Ben with an m, which adds a consonant and flattens the glide. Portuguese has neither. Learners also confuse the adverb "bem" with the adjective "bom": you feel "bem" and something is "bom," so "estou bom" is a different claim than you probably intend.