Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

o livro is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /u ˈli.vɾu/. It means “book.” oo LEE-vroo. Two syllables, with a tight vr cluster and a tapped r.

oo LEE-vroo. Two syllables, with a tight vr cluster and a tapped r.

o livro /u ˈli.vɾu/

Loud on "li-," and the vr cluster crams into the quiet beat after it. The word's shape is worth noting: two syllables, four consonant sounds, and the whole vr cluster plus a vowel crammed into a single unstressed beat. Portuguese is comfortable packing clusters into weak positions like this, which is part of why it sounds faster than it is.

Listen: o livro

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Sound it out

o A quick rounded "oo" running straight into the l.

li A true l with the tongue tip touching, since it opens the word, and a stressed tense "ee." No vocalizing here — that only happens to a syllable-final l.

vro A v with a tap released the moment it ends, closing on "oo." Keep the cluster tight — a vowel between the v and the r would add a syllable that isn't there.

Hear it in a sentence

Estou lendo um livro ótimo.

I'm reading a great book.

Listen: Estou lendo um livro ótimo.

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"Estou lendo um livro ótimo" would reduce to "tô lendo um livro ótimo." "Ótimo" carries an accent three syllables from the end and starts with an open o — and its middle ti is palatalized to "tchee," giving OH-tchee-moo.

Where English speakers slip

Breaking the cluster gives "LEE-vuh-roh," three syllables where there are two, with an unraised final o on top. Keep vr tight. Spanish speakers have "libro" with a b, and Portuguese genuinely uses a v — the two languages differ on that consonant in several common words.