Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

o hotel is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /u oˈtɛw/. It means “hotel.” oo oh-TEH-oo. Silent h, wide-open stressed e, and the l turns into a w.

oo oh-TEH-oo. Silent h, wide-open stressed e, and the l turns into a w.

o hotel /u oˈtɛw/

End-stressed, as l-final words are by rule, unmarked. The plural is "hotéis," where the vocalized l merges into the plural ending and an accent appears to hold the open vowel — the same -el to -éis conversion as "papel" to "papéis."

Listen: o hotel

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Sound it out

h Silent, as every word-initial h in Portuguese is. It survives for historical reasons only, which is why the article's vowel runs straight into the noun's own with nothing between them.

o A closed "oh," unstressed, arriving directly after the article's raised "oo." Two rounded vowels in a row, differing only in height.

tel A hard t with the tongue on the upper teeth, an open e — jaw dropped — and an l that closes the syllable and therefore vocalizes fully to a w. The ending is "teh-oo" in one beat.

Hear it in a sentence

O hotel fica na praia.

The hotel is on the beach.

Listen: O hotel fica na praia.

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"O hotel fica na praia" uses "ficar" for location, the Brazilian default, and "na" as the contraction. "Praia" has a tapped r and ends in a diphthong plus a standalone a, so it's three syllables where an English reader might expect two.

Where English speakers slip

Aspirating the h and pronouncing a real l are the two reliable errors, often together. Front-stressing it as "HO-tel" is the third English habit. The plural is a fourth thing to learn rather than derive, since "hotéis" changes shape rather than just adding an s.