Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

durante is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /duˈɾɐ̃.tʃi/. It means “during.” doo-RAHN-tchee. A tapped r in the middle, a nasal stressed vowel, and a "tchee" at the end.

doo-RAHN-tchee. A tapped r in the middle, a nasal stressed vowel, and a "tchee" at the end.

durante /duˈɾɐ̃.tʃi/

Second-to-last syllable, delivered by the -e default without an accent. The word is a neat side-by-side test of the palatalization rule: a d that stays hard because a u follows, and a t that changes because an i follows, separated by only two syllables in the same short word.

Listen: durante

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Sound it out

du A hard d, since a u follows rather than an i, and a rounded "oo." Unstressed and quick — this is a common trap, because learners palatalize by reflex where no i-sound exists.

ran A single tap between vowels, then an a with the nose open. This syllable is the resonant centre of the word.

te The e at the end lands as "i" and pulls the t into "tch." Note the contrast with the word's opening d, which stays hard because a u follows it.

Hear it in a sentence

Não fale durante o filme.

Don't talk during the movie.

Listen: Não fale durante o filme.

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"Não fale durante o filme" uses a formal negative imperative, and "fale" has a raised final e giving FAH-lee. That runs into "durante o filme," where the adverb's "tchee" ending links straight into the article "oo" — three words fused into one continuous flow.

Where English speakers slip

Palatalizing the opening d gives "djoo-RAHN-tchee," which over-applies a rule that needs an i-sound to fire. Keep it hard. The r is the second issue, since it should be a single tap rather than a roll or a curl, and the nasal is the third.