Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "o homem" in Portuguese (Brazil)?

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

o homem is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /u ˈɔ.mẽj̃/. It means “man.” oo AW-mayng. The h is silent, the first o is wide open, and the ending is a nasal diphthong.

oo AW-mayng. The h is silent, the first o is wide open, and the ending is a nasal diphthong.

o homem /u ˈɔ.mẽj̃/

Words ending in -em put the weight on the second-to-last syllable, so "ho-" is loud and needs no accent. The plural is "homens," which keeps the same stress placement — pluralizing never moves a Portuguese accent, even when it changes the ending from -em to -ens.

Listen: o homem

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Sound it out

o Pronounced "oo." Because the noun's h is silent, this vowel runs into another vowel with nothing whatsoever between them.

h Completely silent, as every word-initial h in Portuguese is. It survives in the spelling for historical reasons only, which is why "homem," "hora" and "hoje" all effectively begin with vowels.

o A wide-open o, jaw down like the vowel in "thought," and stressed. The openness isn't marked anywhere and simply travels with the word.

em The nasal diphthong: closed e gliding to a nasalized y, giving "mayng." The lips stay apart, so no m is actually produced.

Hear it in a sentence

O homem de óculos é meu chefe.

The man with glasses is my boss.

Listen: O homem de óculos é meu chefe.

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"O homem de óculos é meu chefe" uses "de" for description, pronounced "djee," and "óculos" carries an accent three syllables from the end. "Chefe" then closes with a "sh" and a raised final e, giving SHEH-fee.

Where English speakers slip

Aspirating the h gives "HOH-mem," adding a sound and then compounding it with a closed-lip m at the end. Both are wrong. Closing the stressed o is a third error. And the plural surprises learners: "homens" changes the vowel spelling but not the stress, and the final s doesn't shift anything either.