Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

ele is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈe.li/. It means “he / him.” EH-lee with a closed first vowel. That closed quality is the only thing separating him from her.

EH-lee with a closed first vowel. That closed quality is the only thing separating him from her.

ele /ˈe.li/

The weight sits on the opening vowel, unwritten. In connected speech, though, subject pronouns in Portuguese are often unstressed or dropped entirely, since the verb ending already tells you who's acting — so "ele" is frequently lighter than its written form suggests.

Listen: ele

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Sound it out

e A closed e — the vowel of "they" without the glide, tongue high and tense. Getting this closed rather than open is essential, because the feminine "ela" uses the open version.

le A clear l opening the syllable, so it stays a real l with the tongue tip touching. The final unstressed e raises to "ee," giving "lee."

Hear it in a sentence

Ele mora comigo.

He lives with me.

Listen: Ele mora comigo.

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"Ele mora comigo" ends in a word that shows Portuguese's irregular preposition-pronoun fusion: "comigo" rather than "com mim." The verb "mora" has a tapped r between vowels and an unstressed final a, and the whole sentence flows without a single hard consonant break.

Where English speakers slip

The vowel contrast with "ela" defeats a lot of learners: if you use an open "eh" in both, you erase the distinction between he and she in the first syllable and have to rely entirely on the final vowel. Make "ele" tight and "ela" wide. English speakers also finish with a full "lay," when the Brazilian ending is "lee."