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 abóborapumpkinCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine a tâmaradate(fruit)Community a farinhaflourCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
baratocheapCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine claraclearCommunity loirablondCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Feminine TeresaCommunity
zerozeroCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number o númeronumberCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine horahourCommunity a quinta-feiraThursdayCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
esperoI hopeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs queroI wantCommunity

Between consonant and vowel

a praiabeachCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine quatrofourCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number atrasadalate(fem.)Community Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Feminine
o metrometroCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a fotografiaphotographCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
obrigadathank you (fem. speaker)Community Slow audio Play audio Interjection BragaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Proper Noun, Singular o xadrezchessCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

End of word or syllable

comerto eatCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb falarto speakCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb dividirto divideCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb beberto drinkCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb
irto goCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb darto giveCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb piorworstCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective (Comparative), Singular marseaCommunity
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-írisrainbowCommunity   piri-piria type of hot chili pepperCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine oferecerto offerCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb quererto wantCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb
encontrarto meetCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb morarto live, resideCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb aproveitarto enjoy, take advantage ofCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb cumprirto fulfill, accomplishCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb
atirarto throw, shoot, flingCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb a primaveraspringCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine escreverto writeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb lembrarto rememberCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb abrirto openCommunity 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 ratomouseCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a razãoreasonCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine o relógioclock, watchCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a rendarent, incomeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
o restauranterestaurantCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a reuniãomeetingCommunity ricorichCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine ridículoridiculousCommunity
o rioriverCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine rirto laughCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb roxopurpleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine a ruastreetCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

Double rr

o autocarrobusCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine a barrigabellyCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine beterrababeetCommunity a garrafabottleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
a carreiracareerCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine corrigidacorrected, fixedCommunity a ferramentatoolCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine correrto runCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb
a guerrawarCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine irritadoangry, irritatedCommunity percorrerto traverseCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb a terraland, earthCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

R following a consonant and beginning a new syllable

enraizadorootedCommunity a honrahonourCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine  IsraelIsraelCommunity enrolarroll, roll upCommunity

🦗 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! 😉