Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

então is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ẽˈtɐ̃w̃/. It means “so / then.” eng-TOWNG. Two nasals in a row, ending in the -ão diphthong hummed entirely through the nose.

eng-TOWNG. Two nasals in a row, ending in the -ão diphthong hummed entirely through the nose.

então /ẽˈtɐ̃w̃/

Words ending in the nasal diphthong -ão take final-syllable stress by rule, so the weight goes to "-tão" and the tilde is marking nasality rather than stress. That distinction matters: a tilde never tells you where the accent falls, which is why longer words like "coração" still end up end-stressed for a separate reason.

Listen: então

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

en An unstressed e with nasal airflow. It leads into a second nasal, so the word hums from beginning to end.

tão A t with the tongue right on the upper teeth, then the -ão nasal diphthong: a nasalized central a gliding into a nasalized w, all in one beat. Both halves are nasal throughout, and nothing closes the sound at the end.

Hear it in a sentence

Então vamos embora.

So let's get going.

Listen: Então vamos embora.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Então vamos embora" opens on two nasals and then moves into "embora," which has a nasal of its own in the first syllable. Three nasal vowels across three words, with a tapped r at the end — it's a good sentence for feeling how much of Portuguese happens in the nose.

Where English speakers slip

Finishing the -ão with a hard g or n — "en-TOWNG" with an audible velar — is the classic error. Nothing closes it; the sound simply stops mid-resonance. Learners also break it into two syllables, "tah-oh," when it's one fused beat. And in speech Brazilians use "então" as a discourse filler far more than its dictionary meaning of "then" suggests.