Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

livre is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈli.vɾi/. It means “free (available).” LEE-vree. Two syllables, with a quick tapped r in the cluster and a final e that becomes "ee."

LEE-vree. Two syllables, with a quick tapped r in the cluster and a final e that becomes "ee."

livre /ˈli.vɾi/

Ending in -e, the word is front-stressed by default with nothing to mark. The shape is worth noticing: two syllables, four consonant sounds, and the second syllable crams a v, a tap and a vowel into a single quick beat — Portuguese is comfortable packing clusters into unstressed positions like this.

Listen: livre

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Sound it out

li A true l with the tongue tip touching, since it opens the word, followed by a tense high "ee." This is the stressed syllable.

vre The r inside this cluster is a single tap immediately after the v, with no vowel wedged between them. The final e then raises to "ee," and since r isn't affected by a following i-sound, there's no palatalization to worry about.

Hear it in a sentence

Estou livre no sábado.

I'm free on Saturday.

Listen: Estou livre no sábado.

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"Estou livre no sábado" would be spoken "tô livre no sábado" nine times in ten. "Sábado" carries an accent three syllables from the end, marking a stress position Portuguese always has to write out, and "no" is em fused with the masculine article.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers insert a vowel and produce three syllables, "LEE-vuh-ray," when the vr should be a single tight cluster. The final vowel is the other giveaway: "LEE-vray" with a full "ay" instead of the raised "ee." There's also a meaning split worth knowing — "livre" is free as in available or unrestricted, while free of charge is "de graça" or "grátis."