Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

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

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

triste is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈtɾis.tʃi/. It means “sad.” TREESS-tchee. A tapped r at the front, and the ending is "tchee" rather than "teh."

TREESS-tchee. A tapped r at the front, and the ending is "tchee" rather than "teh."

triste /ˈtɾis.tʃi/

Ending in -e, the word takes second-to-last-syllable stress by default with no accent mark. It doesn't change for gender — "ele está triste" and "ela está triste" — which is a small mercy, and it shares that invariability with "grande," "forte" and other -e adjectives.

Listen: triste

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Sound it out

tr A dental t and a single tapped r, tight together. Many Brazilians give this cluster a slight "tch" colouring, so "tchreess" is a widespread variant — which means the word can end up with two tch-like sounds.

is A high "ee" closed by an s. This is the stressed syllable, and the s stays a hiss for most Brazilians while cariocas turn it into "sh."

te The quiet closing e lands as "i," converting the t to "tch." The word therefore ends on the same sound English "cheese" begins with.

Hear it in a sentence

Não fique triste.

Don't be sad.

Listen: Não fique triste.

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"Não fique triste" uses the subjunctive-based imperative, and "fique" has a silent u keeping the k hard plus a raised final e, giving "FEE-kee." Since "fique" ends in "kee" and "triste" ends in "tchee," the phrase closes on two high front vowels in a row with quite different consonants before them.

Where English speakers slip

The ending is the recurring problem: "TRIS-tay" with a hard t and a full "ay" is the natural English reading and Brazilians say "tchee." The r is the second issue, since English speakers bunch it and Spanish speakers roll it, when it should be one quick tap. Also worth noting: "triste" pairs with "estar" for a passing mood and with "ser" for a permanently melancholy person.