Pronunciation of Words ending in IA in Portuguese

Learn the correct Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation for words ending in IA. This Brazilian Portuguese lesson will help you avoid very common mistakes when pronouncing words such as democracia, pandemia, etc.

Words that end in IA and do not have a graphic accent

When the word ends in IA and it does not have a graphic accent elsewhere, place the emphasis on that IA at the end. The final IA is the stressed syllable, the stronger syllable of these words.

See the examples below. Watch the video lesson and repeat out loud after me to practice pronunciation.

I will represent the stressed syllable here by making using upper case and blue, using bold font:

• democracIA = democracy
• academIA = fitness center
• delegacIA = police station
• pandemIA = pandemic

Find several Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation lessons on my Portuguese Starter Kit page!

Words that end in IA and have a graphic accent elsewhere

When the word ends in IA and it has a graphic accent elsewhere, place the emphasis where the graphic accent is.

This is a general Portuguese language pronunciation rule: the stronger syllable of a word is where the graphic accent is, when it has one.

Here are examples to practice your pronunciation. I will represent the stressed syllable here by making using upper case and red, using bold font:

• independÊncia = independency
• fluÊncia = fluency
• inteligÊncia = intelligence
• paciÊncia = patience

There’s always more to know…

A friend once told me nothing is simple with language. He may have a point.

There are words that end in IA and do not have a graphic accent, and yet their stronger sound is not the I in that IA. Eg:

• jOia = jewerly
• idEia = idea
• jibOia = boa constrictor (large snake)
• bOia = flotation aid

These words used to have a graphic accent on the vowel right before the letter i. In 2009 there were changes to the spelling rules in Portuguese, and these words lost their graphic accent, but they are still pronounced as they were before.

I left these words out of the lesson because we would have to get into different rules, which would only make matters more complicated to you. When you don’t know how to pronounce a word, it doesn’t make sense to talk about paroxítonas and ditongo aberto.

I chose to focus on the general rule that will cover most of the words that you will encounter. You will certainly learn the other words in time, as you use them.

• Now learn the pronunciation of words beginning in PS in Brazilian Portuguese

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