Hospital: A Friendly Cognate Across Languages

One of the most comforting words when learning a new language is a cognate, a word that looks and means the same in your own language. Hospital is one of those words in Portuguese.

It means the same thing, it’s spelled the same, but don’t let that fool you into pronouncing it the same way.

European Portuguese Pronunciation

In English, we say HOS-pi-tal, with the stress on the first syllable.

In European Portuguese, it's more like: oosh-pee-TAHL.

• The 'h' is silent.

• The stress is on the last syllable.

• The 's' sounds more like 'sh'.

You can hear it pronounced correctly here.

Why It’s a Helpful Word

Because this word is so recognisable, it can boost your confidence early on. You’ll see it on street signs, in conversation, and on news reports, and understanding it feels like a win.

Just be sure you say it the Portuguese way.

Related Cognates

• animal (ah-nee-MAL)

• local (lo-KAHL)

• normal (nor-MAHL)

These words all follow a similar stress pattern and are great for building pronunciation awareness.

Final Thought

Hospital is a useful anchor word when learning Portuguese — but only if you pronounce it the local way.

The more cognates you collect (and pronounce well), the easier Portuguese becomes.