How to Pronounce R in European Portuguese

The Portuguese R is one of the more difficult sounds to master. We covered it briefly in our Pronunciation Guide to European Portuguese Consonants, but it deserves a bit more explanation!
Pronunciation varies across different Portuguese dialects, so you will likely hear variations in the the R (as well as other sounds). We’ll focus on the “standard” Lisbon pronunciation here for simplicity’s sake. Just keep in mind that you may hear it differently in other parts of Portugal, and especially in Brazil.
First we’ll describe how the English R is pronounced, so that you can differentiate it from the many pronunciations of the Portuguese R. Then we’ll talk about the primary R pronunciations in European Portuguese: flap R, guttural R, and trill R.

🏴‍☠️ The English R

Arrr, matey! The most obvious way to reveal yourself as an English speaker in Portugal is to use the so-called “English R”, i.e. the [ɹ] or [ɻ] pronunciation, in Portuguese words. This is sometimes known as the retroflex R. It is not present in Portuguese, or most other languages, for that matter.
There are a few variations for pronouncing an English R (plus some variations among dialects, of course), but in general, the sides of the tongue pull back against the teeth and the tongue tip curls up toward the alveolar ridge (the part of the roof of your mouth that is right behind your teeth), approaching it, but not actually making contact. The air flows smoothly through that gap.
This is the primary R pronunciation in American English. In British English, the R is only like this when followed by a vowel. In other cases, it is silent, but the preceding vowel is slightly modified.
Now that we know what NOT to do, let’s move on to the Portuguese R’s…

🐍 The Flap R

One version of the Portuguese R, often known as the tap R or flap R ( [ɾ] ) is formed with the tongue tip in the same area of the mouth (the alveolar ridge), but it differs most notably in the amount of contact. With the flap R, the tip of the tongue actually makes contact with the alveolar ridge (it very quickly taps it). If you’re having trouble finding it, it’s about the same place your tongue goes when pronouncing [t] or [d].
This is the R sound between two vowels, between a consonant and a vowel, or at the end of a word/syllable. This R pronunciation is very common in other languages, such as Spanish, so many non-English speakers will have no trouble.
For American English speakers, this sound is similar to the sound in the middle of the words butter, water, and ladder. Instead of fully pronouncing the [t] or [d] in these words, the tongue is quickly tapped against that area, just like a flap R.
Here are some examples of Portuguese words containing the flap R sound:

Between 2 vowels

a abóborapumpkin Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine a tâmaradate(fruit) a farinhaflour Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
baratocheap Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine claraclear loirablond Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Feminine Teresa
zerozero Slow audio Play audio Number o númeronumber Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine horahour a quinta-feiraThursday Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
esperoI hope Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs queroI want

Between consonant and vowel

a praiabeach Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine quatrofour Slow audio Play audio Number atrasadalate(fem.) Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Feminine
o metrometro Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a fotografiaphotograph Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
obrigadathank you (fem. speaker) Slow audio Play audio Interjection Braga Slow audio Play audio Proper Noun, Singular o xadrezchess Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

End of word or syllable

comerto eat Slow audio Play audio Verb falarto speak Slow audio Play audio Verb dividirto divide Slow audio Play audio Verb beberto drink Slow audio Play audio Verb
irto go Slow audio Play audio Verb darto give Slow audio Play audio Verb piorworst Slow audio Play audio Adjective (Comparative), Singular marsea
Variation: Sometimes in words ending in -r, you will hear a “ghost” e, making a word like jantar sound almost like jantare. For example, listen to this pronunciation of O que queres jantar?

And for an extra challenge – multiple flaps in one word!

o arco-írisrainbow   piri-piria type of hot chili pepper Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine oferecerto offer Slow audio Play audio Verb quererto want Slow audio Play audio Verb
encontrarto meet Slow audio Play audio Verb morarto live, reside Slow audio Play audio Verb aproveitarto enjoy, take advantage of Slow audio Play audio Verb cumprirto fulfill, accomplish Slow audio Play audio Verb
atirarto throw, shoot, fling Slow audio Play audio Verb a primaveraspring Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine escreverto write Slow audio Play audio Verb lembrarto remember Slow audio Play audio Verb abrirto open Slow audio Play audio Verb

🦁 The Guttural R

Another Portuguese R is the guttural R ( [ʁ] ), which is similar to some pronunciations of R in French and German.
With this sound, the back of the tongue moves toward the uvula (that thing that hangs down in the back of your throat) and air flows through that narrow space. It may help to think about trying to vibrate the uvula with the air flow.
English speakers can approximate this by making a more forceful H sound while voicing and constricting the back of the throat. It’s a little bit like gargling!
The guttural R appears at the beginning of a Portuguese word, when there is a double rr within a word, and (less common) when an R following a consonant begins a new syllable.
Here are some examples:

Beginning of a word

o ratomouse Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a razãoreason Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine o relógioclock, watch Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a rendarent, income Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
o restauranterestaurant Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a reuniãomeeting ricorich Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine ridículoridiculous
o rioriver Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine rirto laugh Slow audio Play audio Verb roxopurple Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine a ruastreet Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

Double rr

o autocarrobus a barrigabelly Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine beterrababeet a garrafabottle Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
a carreiracareer Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine corrigidacorrected, fixed a ferramentatool Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine correrto run Slow audio Play audio Verb
a guerrawar Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine irritadoangry, irritated percorrerto traverse Slow audio Play audio Verb a terraland, earth Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

R following a consonant and beginning a new syllable

enraizadorooted a honrahonour Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine  IsraelIsrael enrolarroll, roll up

🦗 The Trill or Rolling R

This is similar to the Portuguese flap r, but you sustain the sound, instead of just a quick tap. Again, the tip of the tongue is near the alveolar ridge and air moves over it to make it vibrate. Many refer to this as “rolling your R’s”. This is a common sound in many languages, present in Spanish and some dialects of British English, for example. The symbol for this sound is [r] (however, for some reason this symbol is sometimes used for the English R).
We wanted to mention the trill R because in some Portuguese dialects it replaces the guttural R we just covered above. If you’re struggling with the guttural R, but you already have the trill down, you could switch to the trill and get along just fine! 😉