Is the “e” in words that beings with “es-” not pronounced?

Portuguese Questions
1

When I listen to the audio recordings on Practice Portuguese and even on Google translate, I noticed that the first “e” in words that start with “es-” is not pronounced.

For example, “o escritor” is just “oo-shcritor” and “estar de” is just “shtar-duh.” This is the case even when Rui pronounces it for the slow audio version.

Should I just not pronounce the “e” in these words? (I care more about how Portuguese people actually speak than the “technically correct” pronunciation, by the way.)

Thanks in advance!

2

Olá, @jameszhan9592. Right, when you have the ES- combination, only the SH sound is distinguishable, for the most part, with the E vowel all but disappearing. You can do as you hear, it’s the idiomatic way :slight_smile:

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3

Amazing, this is extremely helpful. Muito obrigado!

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