How to Pronounce 'Ter': Portuguese (Brazil) Pronunciation Guide

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

ter is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /teh/. It means “to have.” TEH, one syllable, with the r trailing off as a breath. The t stays hard because the vowel is an e, not an i.

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

TEH, one syllable, with the r trailing off as a breath. The t stays hard because the vowel is an e, not an i.

ter /teh/

An r-final word, so the stress lands on the final syllable — the only one there is — and no accent is required. This is the shortest of the common infinitives and one of the most irregular verbs in the language, with forms like "tenho," "tem" and "tinha" that share almost nothing with the infinitive's shape.

Listen: ter

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Sound it out

te A t with the tongue right on the upper teeth with no puff of air, then a closed e. Notice this t doesn't palatalize: the trigger is an i-sound, and a stressed closed e isn't one. Compare the word "te," where the unstressed e raises to i and does trigger it.

r Often inaudible. Before a following vowel, though, it can firm up into a quick tap, which is why "ter uma" sounds like teh-ROO-muh — the same letter behaving differently depending on its neighbours.

Hear it in a sentence

Quero ter um cachorro.

I want to have a dog.

Listen: Quero ter um cachorro.

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"Quero ter um cachorro" links the r of "ter" straight into the nasal of "um," and because a vowel-ish sound follows, that r firms up into a tap rather than dissolving. "Cachorro" then gives you both Portuguese r's in one word: the double rr as a throaty h in the middle, and nothing at the end.

Where English speakers slip

The English "tare" or "tur" with a curled r is the standard mispronunciation, and there is no such sound in Portuguese. Let the r evaporate. The more insidious problem is a false friend: Portuguese uses "ter" where Spanish would often use "haber," so "tenho que ir" is the natural way to say "I have to go," and constructions built on "haver" sound formal or archaic in Brazil.