O professor lê o texto em voz alta.

The teacher reads the text aloud.

Breakdown of O professor lê o texto em voz alta.

• ler: to read
• o professor: the teacher
• o texto: the text
• em voz alta: out loud

Questions & Answers about O professor lê o texto em voz alta.

Why do we have the article o before professor and texto, but no article before voz alta?

In European Portuguese, definite articles (o, a, os, as) are used more often than in English.

• O professor = the teacher
• o texto = the text

They are both specific nouns, so they take the definite article.

Em voz alta is a fixed expression meaning aloud / out loud. In this expression, voz normally appears without an article:

• ler em voz alta = to read aloud
• falar em voz baixa = to speak quietly / in a low voice

Adding an article here (em a voz alta) would sound wrong in this idiom.

What exactly is lê? Which form of the verb ler is this?

Lê is the 3rd person singular, present tense, indicative form of the verb ler (to read).

Present indicative of ler:

• eu leio – I read
• tu lês – you read (informal singular)
• ele / ela lê – he / she reads
• nós lemos – we read
• vocês / eles / elas leem – you (pl.) / they read

So O professor lê = The teacher reads / is reading.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence in European Portuguese?

One careful pronunciation in European Portuguese:

O professor lê o texto em voz alta.
/ u pɾu.fɨ.ˈsoɾ le u ˈtɛʃ.tu ẽ vɔʃ ˈaɫ.tɐ /

Approximation:

• O → [u], like the oo in book but shorter
• professor → proo-fɨ-SOR (stress on last syllable)
• lê → close e sound, similar to e in they but shorter
• o → again [u]
• texto → TEHSH-tu (the x sounds like sh)
• em → nasal sound, like e in ten but nasalised
• voz → vohsh (final z sounds like sh)
• alta → AHL-tɐ (dark l, final a reduced to [ɐ])

In natural speech, some vowels may be shortened or slightly reduced, but this gives you a good base.

Why is there a circumflex accent on lê? What does it change?

The circumflex (^) in lê:

1. Marks the stressed syllable.
2. Shows that the vowel e is pronounced closed (/e/), not open (/ɛ/).

It also helps distinguish forms of the verb in some tenses and persons. For example, in older spelling there were contrasts like lêem vs other forms; under the current spelling you mostly just see lê (he/she reads) and leem (they read).

Without the accent, le would not be a valid word here and would be pronounced differently.

Can this Portuguese present tense lê mean “is reading” as well as “reads”?

Yes.

Portuguese present tense often covers both meanings:

• O professor lê o texto em voz alta.
  = The teacher reads the text aloud. (habitual)
  = The teacher is reading the text aloud. (right now), depending on context.

European Portuguese also has a progressive form:

• O professor está a ler o texto em voz alta.
  = explicitly “The teacher is reading the text aloud (right now).”

But the simple lê can absolutely describe an action happening now.

Why do we use em in em voz alta? Could we use another preposition?

Em voz alta is a fixed expression:

• em voz alta = aloud, out loud
• literally: in loud voice

Here em means something like in, but idiomatically we translate the whole phrase as aloud. Other prepositions would sound wrong:

• a voz alta, com voz alta, por voz alta – incorrect for this meaning.

So you should treat ler em voz alta as a chunk: to read aloud.

Is em voz alta the only way to say “aloud”? Can I say ler alto?

The most standard, neutral way is ler em voz alta.

Ler alto can be understood (especially in speech), but:

• It’s less precise and can sound a bit odd or ambiguous; alto often means loud (volume), not necessarily aloud (as opposed to silently).
• Em voz alta clearly contrasts with em silêncio / em voz baixa / em voz baixa.

So for learners, use:

• ler em voz alta = to read aloud
  rather than ler alto.

Can I drop O professor and just say Lê o texto em voz alta?

Grammatically, yes, Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: you can omit the subject when it’s clear from context or verb ending.

However, here O professor is not a pronoun but a full noun phrase, specifying who is reading. If you drop it:

• Lê o texto em voz alta.
  = (He/She) reads the text aloud.

This only works if the subject is already known from context. If you specifically want to say the teacher, you normally keep O professor.

What changes if the teacher is female?

You change the noun and its article to the feminine; the rest stays the same:

• O professor lê o texto em voz alta. – The (male) teacher reads the text aloud.
• A professora lê o texto em voz alta. – The (female) teacher reads the text aloud.

Notes:

• professor (masc.) → professora (fem.)
• o (masc. singular definite article) → a (fem. singular definite article)
• texto is masculine, voz is feminine, but that doesn’t change here because there are no agreeing adjectives directly attached to them.

How would the sentence change in the plural: “The teachers read the text aloud”?

Make the article and the noun plural; the verb also changes:

• Os professores leem o texto em voz alta.

Breakdown:

• Os – plural of o (the)
• professores – plural of professor
• leem – plural of lê (they read)
• o texto – can stay singular if they’re all reading the same text; or os textos if you mean multiple texts
• em voz alta – unchanged

Why is texto masculine but voz feminine? Is there a rule?

Grammatical gender in Portuguese is partly predictable but often must be memorised:

• texto ends in ‑o, which is very often masculine → o texto.
• voz ends in a consonant; many such nouns are masculine, but voz happens to be feminine → a voz.

There is no universal rule that covers all cases. Some patterns:

• Nouns ending in ‑o are usually masculine.
• Nouns ending in ‑a are usually feminine.
• Others (ending in consonants, ‑e, etc.) are mixed and must often be learned case by case.

In fixed expressions like em voz alta, you just learn the whole phrase.

Why is the article o often pronounced like u?

In European Portuguese, the unstressed definite article o is usually pronounced [u], like a short oo:

• o professor → [u pɾu.fɨ.ˈsoɾ]
• o texto → [u ˈtɛʃ.tu]

Similarly:

• a → [ɐ] (a reduced uh sound)
• os → [uʃ] or [uʂ] (depending on accent)
• as → [ɐʃ] or [ɐʂ]

The spelling o, a comes from Latin and is fixed; the pronunciation has shifted over time to these reduced vowel sounds in unstressed position.

How do you make this sentence negative and how do you form a question?

Negative:

You put não before the verb:

• O professor não lê o texto em voz alta.
  = The teacher does not read the text aloud.

Yes/no question:

In European Portuguese, you usually keep the same word order and use intonation (rising pitch):

• O professor lê o texto em voz alta?
  = Does the teacher read the text aloud? / Is the teacher reading the text aloud?

Context and spoken intonation tell you it’s a question. In writing, the question mark is essential.