Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

brincar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /bɾĩˈkah/. It means “to play (like a child).” breeng-KAH. Tapped r in the opening cluster, nasal i, and stress on the last syllable.

breeng-KAH. Tapped r in the opening cluster, nasal i, and stress on the last syllable.

brincar /bɾĩˈkah/

The nasal vowel here is unstressed, sitting quietly between two consonants before the word lands on "-car." Portuguese is perfectly comfortable with weak nasals, and learners who drill them only in loud positions tend to overplay them in every position.

Listen: brincar

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Sound it out

br A b immediately followed by a single tapped r — the tongue tip flicks once. Keep the two tight together; English speakers tend to insert a tiny vowel between them.

in The n nasalizes the i rather than being pronounced itself. Hum a high "ee" through the nose and glide straight into the k without any tongue contact.

car Hard c before the a, then the loud wide vowel. Moving from the nasal "eeng" into this fully oral, jaw-dropped sound is the word's main rhythmic event; the r is negligible.

Hear it in a sentence

Vamos brincar lá fora.

Let's play outside.

Listen: Vamos brincar lá fora.

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"Vamos brincar lá fora" uses "vamos" as a let's-do-it invitation. "Lá" carries an acute accent marking a stressed open a, which distinguishes it from the unaccented "la." And "fora" has a tapped r between vowels, so the sentence gives you a tap in "brincar," breath at its end, and another tap in "fora."

Where English speakers slip

The consonant cluster is the first hurdle: "buh-rin-CAR" with an inserted vowel is a common English rendering. Keep br tight. The semantic split is the second: "brincar" means to play the way children play, while playing a sport is "jogar" and playing an instrument is "tocar." Using "brincar" for football sounds distinctly odd.