Tools/Portuguese to IPA
Portuguese to IPA converter
Convert Brazilian Portuguese text to IPA phonetic transcription. See the IPA, hear the word, and turn it into review-ready flashcards — without leaving what you are reading.
Free web converter below, no install. Or 10 transcriptions/day free on the desktop app.
Portuguese in IPA
9 worked examples, each chosen for a sound the spelling hides.
thank you — final o said /u/
heart — nasal diphthong, stressed
bread — one syllable, fully nasal
mother — the other nasal diphthong
bean — j as /ʒ/, nasal ending
tooth — nasal vowel plus palatalised t
milk — the same palatalisation
morning — nh plus a nasal vowel
water — written stress on the first syllable
Portuguese sounds to know
The symbols that come up most often in Portuguese transcription, and what each one actually asks your mouth to do.
| Letter | Example | IPA | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| ão | pão | /ɐ̃w̃/ | A nasal diphthong: both halves are nasalised, and no /n/ or /m/ is pronounced. |
| ãe | mãe | /ɐ̃j̃/ | The other common nasal diphthong. English speakers tend to add a consonant that is not there. |
| nh | manhã | /ɲ/ | A palatal nasal, matching Spanish ñ and French gn. |
| lh | filho | /ʎ/ | A palatal lateral, matching Italian gl and Spanish ll in conservative accents. |
| t (before i or final e) | dente | /t͡ʃ/ | Palatalisation: written t becomes the ch of English cheese before an /i/ sound. Standard across most of Brazil. |
| d (before i or final e) | cidade | /d͡ʒ/ | The voiced half of the same rule — the j of English judge. |
| r- (initial), rr | carro | /ʁ/ | A throaty r in Brazil, ranging from /ʁ/ to a plain /h/ by region. Never the English r. |
| r (between vowels) | caro | /ɾ/ | A single tap, the same sound as Spanish intervocalic r. Contrasts with the throaty rr. |
| -e (unstressed final) | leite | /i/ | Final e raises to /i/, which is what triggers the t and d palatalisation before it. |
| -o (unstressed final) | obrigado | /u/ | Final o raises to /u/. The spelling keeps the o, the pronunciation does not. |
How Portuguese writing maps to sound
Portuguese marks nasality with a tilde (ã, õ) or with a following m or n, and marks stress with acute, circumflex and grave accents. What it does not mark is the reduction of unstressed vowels or the palatalisation of t and d — two processes that change almost every word ending in Brazil.
Which Portuguese do these transcriptions show?
Transcriptions follow Brazilian Portuguese, broadly the São Paulo / Rio educated standard. European Portuguese reduces unstressed vowels much further (often to nothing), does not palatalise t and d, and keeps a different r. Rio adds a palatal /ʃ/ for syllable-final s that São Paulo does not have.
Why guess Portuguese pronunciation?
Brazilian Portuguese has a rich vowel system the spelling underspecifies: vowels nasalise, unstressed vowels reduce, and t and d palatalise before certain vowels. Transcription is the clearest way to see what is actually said.
From Portuguese text to IPA in seconds
Select the text
Highlight Portuguese text anywhere — a PDF, a browser, a subtitle, a chat. Or paste it into the free web converter above.
Press Alt+Q
IPAtics detects the language automatically and shows the IPA in a floating overlay, right where you are reading.
Hear it, save it, study it
Play native audio, tap any symbol to learn it, save the word, and generate Anki cards — all in one place.
Frequently asked questions
Transcribe Portuguese the fast way
Install IPAtics to get IPA on any Portuguese text in any app — with audio, saved words, and Anki cards.