Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

legal is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /leˈgaw/. It means “cool / nice.” leh-GOW, rhyming with "now." The final l becomes a w, and the stress is on the second syllable.

leh-GOW, rhyming with "now." The final l becomes a w, and the stress is on the second syllable.

legal /leˈgaw/

An l-final word takes end stress by rule, so "-gal" is loud and no accent appears — the same pattern as azul, papel and hotel. The plural is "legais," where the vocalized l merges with the plural ending, which is the spelling system acknowledging a sound change it otherwise hides.

Listen: legal

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

Sound it out

le Tongue tip up for the l — it opens the syllable — and a closed e behind it. Quick and unstressed, which sets up the contrast with what follows.

gal Hard g before the a, the stressed wide-open vowel, and then an l that vocalizes to w because it closes the syllable. The result rhymes with English "cow," not with "gal."

Hear it in a sentence

Esse filme é muito legal.

That movie is really cool.

Listen: Esse filme é muito legal.

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

"Esse filme é muito legal" ends on that w-glide with nothing after it, so you hear it trail off. In Brazil "legal" is an all-purpose word of approval — cool, nice, fine, good — and it does far more conversational work than its dictionary meaning of "lawful" would suggest.

Where English speakers slip

Saying a real l gives "leh-GAL," which is both the English reading and the Spanish one, and neither matches Brazil. It's "leh-GOW." The stress is the second problem, since English speakers front-load it. And be aware of register: "legal" is casual, so it fits conversation but sits oddly in formal writing.