Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

curto is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈkuɦ.tu/. It means “short (in length).” KOO-too. The r in the middle is a soft rasp, not an English r, and the final o raises to "oo."

KOO-too. The r in the middle is a soft rasp, not an English r, and the final o raises to "oo."

curto /ˈkuɦ.tu/

The rounded first syllable is the loud one. The interest here is in the r: it sits in the stressed syllable but contributes almost nothing audible, which is a good corrective to the assumption that stressed syllables get fully articulated consonants. In Brazil a syllable-final r softens regardless of the weight around it.

Listen: curto

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Sound it out

cur An unaspirated hard k before the u, a rounded "oo," and then an r at the syllable's end, reduced to a light throat rasp. The stressed vowel dominates and the r barely registers.

to A hard t and an ending heard as "oo," which means both syllables land on rounded sounds and the word has an oddly uniform colour.

Hear it in a sentence

Meu cabelo está curto.

My hair is short.

Listen: Meu cabelo está curto.

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"Meu cabelo está curto" would shrink to "meu cabelo tá curto" in speech. "Cabelo" has a single intervocalic l that stays a real l — because it opens a syllable — which contrasts neatly with the vocalized l's you meet in "alto" or "legal."

Where English speakers slip

"KUR-toh" with an American r and an unraised final o is the reflexive English version, and both halves need work. Spanish speakers tap the r audibly, which is closer but still not the Brazilian rasp. The word is also specifically about physical length — for a short person you want "baixo," and using "curto" there sounds strange.