Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

dormir is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /doɦˈmih/. It means “to sleep.” doh-MEE. The r in the middle is a breath, the r at the end is barely there, and the stress is on the second syllable.

doh-MEE. The r in the middle is a breath, the r at the end is barely there, and the stress is on the second syllable.

dormir /doɦˈmih/

An -ir verb, the third and smallest infinitive class, and irregular in a specific way — the first-person "durmo" swaps the stressed o for a u, a quirk shared with a small family including cobrir and tossir. The infinitive itself is end-stressed.

Listen: dormir

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Sound it out

dor A hard d before the o — no palatalization — a closed "oh," and a syllable-closing r that becomes a soft throat-h. The result sounds more like "doh" with a rasp than anything with an English r.

mir An ordinary m and the stressed high "ee." Both r's in this word come out as air rather than tongue movement, which leaves it feeling remarkably smooth end to end.

Hear it in a sentence

Vou dormir cedo hoje.

I'm going to sleep early today.

Listen: Vou dormir cedo hoje.

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"Vou dormir cedo hoje" uses the future-with-"vou" construction. "Cedo" has a soft c before an e, so it's "SEH-doo," and "hoje" has a silent h and a soft "zh" j, giving "OH-zhee." Between them, "dormir" is almost consonant-free once both its r's soften.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers put a full American r in the middle — "DOR-meer" — which is the most audible error in the word, and they front-stress it besides. Spanish speakers tap or trill that middle r, which is closer but still wrong for Brazil, where a syllable-final r is throat-h. The vowel change in "durmo" catches everyone out at least once.