Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

sozinho is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /soˈzĩ.ɲu/. It means “alone.” soh-ZEEN-yoo. The z buzzes, the middle vowel is nasal, and nh is one palatal sound.

soh-ZEEN-yoo. The z buzzes, the middle vowel is nasal, and nh is one palatal sound.

sozinho /soˈzĩ.ɲu/

Second-to-last syllable, courtesy of the -o default, with no accent. The word is built from "só" plus the diminutive-flavoured suffix -zinho, which Brazilians attach to almost anything — cafezinho, pouquinho, devagarinho — and that suffix always carries the stress wherever it lands.

Listen: sozinho

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Sound it out

so A hissed s and a closed "oh," unstressed. The s stays unvoiced because it opens the word rather than sitting between vowels — unlike the z that follows.

zi A genuinely voiced z with the cords vibrating, and then an i nasalized by the nh behind it. This is the stressed syllable and the buzzing heart of the word.

nho The nh is one palatal consonant, the middle of the tongue flat against the roof of the mouth — Spanish ñ. The o behind it raises to "oo," so the word ends "nyoo."

Hear it in a sentence

Ele mora sozinho.

He lives alone.

Listen: Ele mora sozinho.

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"Ele mora sozinho" ends on the nh plus raised o, and "mora" earlier has a single tapped r between vowels. So the sentence contrasts a quick tongue-tip flick with a sustained palatal consonant, two of the more distinctively Portuguese articulations, three syllables apart.

Where English speakers slip

Splitting the nh into "n" plus "h" gives "so-ZEEN-ho," which is the standard error and audible immediately. It's one fused sound. Devoicing the z is the second problem. And the adjective agrees, so a woman says "sozinha" — with the stress and every consonant staying exactly where they were.