Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

cheio is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈʃej.u/. It means “full.” SHAY-oo. Starts with "sh," and the ending is a separate quick "oo."

SHAY-oo. Starts with "sh," and the ending is a separate quick "oo."

cheio /ˈʃej.u/

Two syllables, and the first is loud, as the -o ending requires. Syllabification is the subtle part: "ei" fuses into one beat while the following o stands alone, so the split is chei-o. Portuguese diphthongs always involve an unstressed i or u, which is exactly why the o here can't join in.

Listen: cheio

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Sound it out

ch Always "sh" in Portuguese, with no exceptions in the native vocabulary. Nothing here resembles the English ch of "cheese" — that sound exists in Brazil, but it comes from t before an i, not from this spelling.

ei A closed e gliding into a y, the vowel of "weigh," and it carries the stress. One beat despite the two letters.

o The final unstressed o raises to "oo" and takes its own quick beat. So the word is two syllables, with the glide of "ei" belonging entirely to the first.

Hear it in a sentence

O ônibus está cheio.

The bus is full.

Listen: O ônibus está cheio.

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"O ônibus está cheio" uses "ônibus," one of the small set of words accented three syllables from the end. In speech "está" reduces to "tá," and the s of "ônibus" runs into that reduced verb, so the whole phrase compresses to something like OH-nee-boos-tá-SHAY-oo.

Where English speakers slip

Reading ch as English "ch" gives "CHAY-oh," and it's the reflex for anyone arriving from Spanish or Italian. Make it "sh." The final o is the second issue, left unraised by English speakers. And the feminine "cheia" changes the ending without moving the stress, which learners often over-adjust.