Portuguese alphabet and pronunciation

The alphabet

The Portuguese alphabet has the same 26 letters as English. k, w and y appear only in foreign words, names and abbreviations. The names of the letters are masculine: , . You need them to spell your name on the phone: (How do you spell it?)

ç () is not a separate letter, just a c with a hook that makes it sound like “s”. For double letters, people say (with two s's) or (with two r's). Where the table gives two words, the first shows the letter's main sound and the second a different one.

Letter	Example	Meaning
a		water
b		good
c	,	house, city
d		day
e		school
f		family
g	,	cat, people
h		hotel
i		island
j		window
k		kiwi
l		book
m		mother
n		night
o		egg
p		bread
q		cheese
r	,	street, expensive
s	,	sun, house
t		afternoon
u		grape
v		you
w		wifi
x		cup
y		a first name
z		zero

Vowels and word endings

Portuguese has seven oral vowel sounds: e and o can each be open or closed. The open sounds are like “e” in “bed” and “o” in “law”; the closed ones like “ay” in “say” and “o” in “go”, but without the glide. A written accent often shows which one: (grandmother, open) and (grandfather, closed).

At the end of a word, unstressed vowels become shorter. In Brazil a final unstressed -e sounds like “i” and a final -o like “u”: sounds like “NOY-chee”, like “TOO-doo”. A final -l sounds like “u”, so sounds like “bra-ZEE-oo”.

In European Portuguese the unstressed vowels are reduced even more, which is one reason why Brazilians and learners find Portugal's accent hard at first.

Spelling	Sound	Examples
a	“a” in “father”; a little weaker when not stressed	,
é, and stressed e in many words	open, “e” in “bed”	, ,
ê, and stressed e in many words	closed, “ay” in “say” without the glide	, ,
i	“ee” in “see”	,
ó, and stressed o in many words	open, “o” in “law”	, ,
ô, and stressed o in many words	closed, “o” in “go” without the glide	, ,
u	“oo” in “food”	,
final unstressed -e, -es	“i”, “is”	, ,
final unstressed -o, -os	“u”, “us”	, ,
l at the end of a syllable	“u”, as in “how”	, , ,

Nasal vowels

Nasal vowels are the most typical Portuguese sound. Air goes out through the nose and the mouth at the same time, a little like the vowel of “song” when you stop before the “ng”. A vowel is nasal when it has a tilde (ã, õ) or when it's followed by m or n in the same syllable: , , , , . The m or n is not pronounced as a separate consonant.

Some nasal sounds are double vowels (diphthongs): ão as in and , ãe as in , õe as in . A final -em or -ens sounds like a nasal “ay”: , , . The verb ending -am is unstressed and sounds like a weak ão: , .

Spelling	Sound	Examples	Meaning
am, an, ã	nasal “a”	, ,	field, before, sister
em, en	nasal “e”	,	time, centre
im, in	nasal “ee”	,	yes, beautiful
om, on	nasal “o”	,	good, where
um, un	nasal “oo”	,	one, world
ão	nasal “ow” as in “cow”	, ,	bread, no, hand
ãe, final -em	nasal “ay”	, ,	mother, well, also
õe	nasal “oy”	,	lemons, puts

Bom dia, tudo bem?Good morning, how are you? · nasal and ; final -o like “u”
Um pão, por favor.A bread roll, please. · nasal and
Minha mãe também não vem.My mother isn't coming either. · ãe, final -em, ão

Consonants that differ from English

Most consonants sound roughly as in English. These are the ones to watch. The sounds given are those of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which this course teaches; Brazilian accents vary, especially for r and for s at the end of a syllable.

The most noticeable Brazilian feature is t and d before an “i” sound, including a final -e: they sound like “ch” and “j”. sounds like “CHEE-a”, like “JEE-a”, and , and end in “jee” and “chee”. In Portugal and parts of the Northeast they stay plain t and d.

Spelling	Sound	Examples
t, d before an “i” sound	“ch” in “cheese”, “j” in “jeans”	, , ,
lh	“lli” in “million”	, ,
nh	“ny” in “canyon”	, ,
r at the start of a word, rr	like an English “h” (in some regions a rolled “r”)	, ,
r between vowels, and after a consonant	one quick tap of the tongue, like “tt” in American “better”	, ,
r at the end of a syllable	an “h” in Rio and much of Brazil, a tap in São Paulo city; often dropped at the end of verbs	, ,
s between vowels	“z”	, ,
ss, ç, and c before e or i	“s”	, ,
s at the end of a syllable	“s” in São Paulo, “sh” in Rio (and “zh” before a voiced sound)	, ,
ch, and x at the start of a word	“sh” in “shop”	, ,
x in the middle of a word	often “sh”, but also “ks”, “z” or “s”: learn it with each word	, , ,
g before e or i, and j	“s” in “measure”	, ,
que, qui, gue, gui	“k”, hard “g”; the u is usually silent	, ,
qua, quo, gua	the u is pronounced, like “w”	, ,
h	always silent	, ,
m, n at the end of a syllable	not said as a consonant: the vowel before becomes nasal	, ,

Stress and written accents

Most words ending in a, e, o (with or without s), -am, -em or -ens are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: , , , . Words ending in i, u, l, r, z, -im, -um or a nasal vowel like ão are stressed on the last syllable: , , , , , .

A written accent shows the stress when a word breaks these rules. The acute accent (´) marks a stressed open vowel: , , . The circumflex (^) marks a stressed closed vowel: , , . Words stressed on the third-to-last syllable always have one of the two.

The tilde (~) marks a nasal vowel and usually the stress too: , , . The grave accent, which slopes the other way, is different: it appears only on and (and in , , ), where the preposition a and the article a merge. It doesn't change the sound or the stress.

Word	Stress	Why
	CA-sa	ends in a vowel: second-to-last syllable
	FA-lam	ends in -am: second-to-last syllable
	bra-SIL	ends in l: last syllable
	ir-MÃO	ends in a nasal vowel: last syllable
	ca-FÉ	ends in a vowel but is stressed on the last syllable: accent
	tam-BÉM	ends in -em but is stressed on the last syllable: accent
	FÁ-cil	ends in l but is stressed on the second-to-last syllable: accent
	Ô-ni-bus	stressed on the third-to-last syllable: always an accent

Practice

Listen to each sentence, then say it out loud. Don't worry about sounding exactly like a Brazilian: nasal vowels and the “ch” and “j” sounds of t and d make the biggest difference, so start with those.

Boa tarde! Tudo bem com você?Good afternoon. How are you? · ends in “jee”; like “TOO-doo”; nasal
Meu filho mora no Rio de Janeiro.My son lives in Rio de Janeiro. · lh like “lli”; starts with an “h” sound
A minha irmã tem dezesseis anos.My sister is sixteen. · nh, nasal ã; s between vowels like “z”
Um cafezinho e um pão de queijo, por favor.A small coffee and a cheese roll, please. · silent u in ; ão
Hoje à noite a gente vai ao cinema.Tonight we're going to the cinema. · silent h; j and g like “s” in “measure”; ends in “chee”
O ônibus para a cidade sai às seis.The bus to the city leaves at six. · stress on ; c before i like “s”; ends in “jee”