Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

surpreso is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /suɦˈpɾe.zu/. It means “surprised.” soo-PREH-zoo. A rasped r, then a tapped one, and the s buzzes as a z.

soo-PREH-zoo. A rasped r, then a tapped one, and the s buzzes as a z.

surpreso /suɦˈpɾe.zu/

Three beats, with the middle one loudest. The word is an excellent r-drill: one rasp closing a syllable and one tap inside a cluster, spelled identically and sounding nothing alike, with the stress falling on the syllable that contains the tap.

Listen: surpreso

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

sur A hissed s, a rounded "oo," and an r in coda position, coming out as a light throat rasp. Unstressed and quick, with the r barely audible.

pre A p with none of the English puff followed instantly by a tap — a completely different r from the one a syllable earlier — then a closed e carrying the stress.

so A single s between two vowels, so it buzzes as a z, and the o climbing to "oo" as it always does at the end of a word. The word ends "zoo."

Hear it in a sentence

Fiquei surpreso ao ver você.

I was surprised to see you.

Listen: Fiquei surpreso ao ver você.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Fiquei surpreso ao ver você" uses "ao," the fused preposition and article, before an infinitive — a construction meaning "on seeing." "Fiquei" has a silent u after the q and a stressed "ei" diphthong, so the sentence opens with a glide before the two r's arrive.

Where English speakers slip

Treating both r's alike is the standard error, usually as English curls. One is breath, the other is a tap. Devoicing the s to a hiss is the second problem — "soo-PREH-soo" is the reading rather than the sound. And the adjective agrees, so a woman says "surpresa."