Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

ligar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /liˈgah/. It means “to call (on the phone).” lee-GAH. Hard g, stress on the second syllable, and the final r fades to nothing.

lee-GAH. Hard g, stress on the second syllable, and the final r fades to nothing.

ligar /liˈgah/

lee-GAH as an infinitive, LEE-gah as an imperative. Because the g has to stay hard right through the paradigm, the spelling props it up with a silent u in forms like "ligue" — the same device that turns "que" into a plain k.

Listen: ligar

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Sound it out

li The l is fully articulated, tongue tip up, since it opens the word. The "ee" after it is tight and unstressed.

gar Hard g, because it precedes an a — before an e or i the same letter would soften to "zh." The vowel is the word's widest and loudest, and the r after it is close to silent.

Hear it in a sentence

Me liga quando chegar.

Call me when you get there.

Listen: Me liga quando chegar.

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"Me liga quando chegar" is thoroughly Brazilian: the pronoun leads, the verb is a bare present used as a command, and "chegar" is in the future subjunctive. "Chegar" opens with "sh," and the two verbs bracket "quando," whose nasal first syllable hums between them.

Where English speakers slip

The g attracts trouble from English speakers who expect it to soften before the i in "ligar" — it doesn't, because the vowel immediately after the g is an a. Keep it hard. The meaning is the other issue: "ligar" covers phoning, switching a device on, and caring about something, so "não ligo" can mean "I don't call" or "I don't care" depending entirely on context.