Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

primeiro is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pɾiˈmej.ɾu/. It means “first.” pree-MAY-roo. Two r's, both taps, and an "ei" diphthong carrying the stress.

pree-MAY-roo. Two r's, both taps, and an "ei" diphthong carrying the stress.

primeiro /pɾiˈmej.ɾu/

Three syllables, and the middle one is loud, which the -o default supplies without an accent. Note that the diphthong "ei" counts as one syllable for stress purposes, so the split is pri-mei-ro rather than pri-me-i-ro; if the i were meant to stand alone, Portuguese would mark it with an accent as it does in "país."

Listen: primeiro

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Sound it out

pri Unaspirated p, a flicked r, and a short high "ee." The cluster is tight, and the vowel is unstressed so it goes by fast.

mei The stressed syllable. An m and then "ei," a closed e gliding to a y — the vowel of "weigh." It's one beat, and it carries the word's whole weight.

ro A single flick of the tongue tip between vowels, and an ending pronounced "oo." Both r's in this word are taps, which is unusual at this length.

Hear it in a sentence

Este é meu primeiro emprego.

This is my first job.

Listen: Este é meu primeiro emprego.

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"Este é meu primeiro emprego" ends with "emprego," whose first syllable is nasal — the m before a p signals nasalization, exactly as in "importante." The adjective comes before the noun here, which is standard for ordinals and changes nothing about the stress.

Where English speakers slip

Breaking the diphthong into "pri-meh-EE-roh" gives four syllables where there are three. Keep "ei" as one glide. Both r's also attract rolling from Spanish speakers, when they should be single taps. And note the shortened form: Brazilians write "1º" and say "primeiro," and the feminine "primeira" is used just as often.