Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "por favor" in Portuguese (Brazil)?

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

por favor is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /poh faˈvoh/. It means “please.” poh fah-VOH. Both r's are breathy h-sounds, and neither one is an English "er."

poh fah-VOH. Both r's are breathy h-sounds, and neither one is an English "er."

por favor /poh faˈvoh/

"Favor" ends in a consonant — r — and words ending in r are stressed on the final syllable by rule, so "-VOR" takes the weight and needs no accent mark. "Por" is a preposition leaning on what follows, so the phrase has a clear one-two-THREE rhythm.

Listen: por favor

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Sound it out

por The o is a closed "oh," and the r closing the syllable comes out as a soft puff of breath from the throat in most of Brazil — think of the h in "ahead" rather than anything you'd do with the tip of your tongue.

fa An ordinary f, then an open "ah." This syllable is unstressed but the vowel stays full and clear; Brazilian Portuguese doesn't crush it into a schwa.

vor A true v made with teeth on lip, then the same "oh" and the same breathy final r. The whole ending should feel light, almost like it fades out rather than stopping.

Hear it in a sentence

Me ajuda, por favor?

Can you help me, please?

Listen: Me ajuda, por favor?

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"Me ajuda, por favor?" puts the phrase where Brazilians actually put it, tagged on at the end with a rising question tone. Notice "ajuda": that j is a soft "zh" like the s in "measure," never the hard English j of "judge." The pitch climbing across "por favor" is what turns a command into a request.

Where English speakers slip

The reflex is to pronounce both r's as English retroflex r, giving "pore fuh-VORE," and it marks you instantly. Brazilians release syllable-final r as a light h — "poh fah-VOH." Spanish learners have the mirror problem and roll or trill them. Also resist the English habit of flattening the unstressed "fa-" into "fuh"; it stays a clean, open "fah."