Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

quanto is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈkwɐ̃.tu/. It means “how much.” KWAHN-too. A real "kw," a nasal stressed vowel, and a final o raising to "oo."

KWAHN-too. A real "kw," a nasal stressed vowel, and a final o raising to "oo."

quanto /ˈkwɐ̃.tu/

The "kwan" is loud, exactly as in "quando." Grammatically the word agrees when it modifies a noun — "quantos livros," "quantas pessoas" — and stays invariable when it asks about price or amount, as in "quanto custa." The stress never moves across any of those forms.

Listen: quanto

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Sound it out

quan A genuine "kw" and then a nasal a. Same opening as "quando" — the two words differ by exactly one consonant.

to Hard t, then "oo." It emerges from the nasal with no consonant closure in between, which takes practice to do smoothly.

Hear it in a sentence

Quanto custa isso?

How much does this cost?

Listen: Quanto custa isso?

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"Quanto custa isso?" uses the invariable form because it's asking about an amount rather than counting things. "Custa" has a syllable-final s that stays a hiss, and "isso" has a double s kept unvoiced between vowels, so the sentence has three unvoiced sibilants and no z at all.

Where English speakers slip

Silencing the u to get "KAN-too" is the recurring qu error. Before an a the u speaks. English speakers also produce a full n instead of a nasal vowel. And the agreement rule catches people out: "quanto tempo" is right but "quanto horas" is not — it has to be "quantas horas."