How to read and say Brazilian Portuguese

Portuguese has both nasal vowels and reduced vowels. Nearly everyone struggles to learn them correctly. If you don't reduce the vowels, you will still be understood, but sound over-enunciating. If you don't nasalize the vowels, you can easily be misunderstood: mão means "hand", while mau means "bad." So, be extra careful not to ouch the ão sound. For starters, try something in between English no and now for não (which means English no). Start practicing with words whose preceding consonant doesn't have much lip movement. For example, não is easier than pão (bread). A good native pronunciation of this diphthong will take lots of listening and practice. The nasals are transcribed as "ng", but don't pronounce "ng" as a consonant.

Brazilian and Luso (European Portuguese) pronunciation differ, and within Brazil, there are regional differences as well. The Brazilian variant used here is generally based on the São Paulo pronunciation.

Vowels and accents

Nasal Vowels Like French, Portuguese has its share of nasal vowels. These are written in one of six ways: 1.) A tilde over the vowel: ã, õ (This is also the phonetic representation of the nasal vowel.) 2.) Any vowel followed by m at the end of a word 3.) Any vowel followed by n plus a consonant (except nh) 4.) Any vowel followed by m plus b or p 5.) The vowel â with the circumflex (stressed) 6.) The diphthong ui, if in the middle of a word Often, but not always, nasal vowels occur at the end of a word. Examples: 1.) ímã (EE-mon, magnet; a tricky word, end it nasally as Brazilians do, don't move your tongue or close the mouth for the final N), rã (frog; say aloud the English word hum not closing your mouth for the final M, and you'll nail it), irmã (eeh-MON with mouth open, sister); diphthongs: irmão (eeh-MOWNG, brother), cão (kawng, dog), Camões (the poet Camoens) 2.) andam (AHN-downg, they walk), viagem (vee-AH-zheng, trip), ruim (hoo-EENG, bad), bom (bowng, good), algum (ahl-GOONG, singular male form of adjective "some") 3.) antes (AHN-tease, before), mundo (MOON-doo, world), ano (AHN-noo, year), but not anu (ah-NOO, a bird), nulo (NOO-loo, null), enorme (ee-NORE-mee, enormous), banho (BAHN-yoo, bath), etc.) 4.) caçamba (kah-SAHM-bah, freight truck), emprego (een-PRAY-goo, job), simples (SEEM-please, simple), combinar (kown-bee-NARG, to combine, to harmonize one's clothes, to set up a date), penumbra (penn-OOM-brah, astronomical word) 5.) lâmpada (LAHM-pah-dah, lamp), but not você, avô (ah-VOU-oo, grandfather), etc. 6.) muito (MWYN-too, much): slight nasalization

Accentuation

Statistically speaking, most Brazilian Portuguese words are paroxytones (stressed on the second-to-last syllable). If in doubt, remember this. Proparoxytones (third-to-last syllable), such as último (OOL-chee-moo, last) and próximo (PRAW-see-moo, next), are very rare and will always bear an accent. Oxytones (last syllable) such as the male names José (zhoo-ZED, mouth open), João (zhoo-AWNG), Tomé (tom-MET, mouth open), Luís (lew-EES), André (unDREAD, with a short Spanish "El Rey" R, and the mouth open), Valdir (vow-JEER), Cauã (kow-AHM, mouth open), Simão (see-MOWNG) and Iberê (ee-bay-RAY, with a short Spanish "El Rey" R, and the mouth open) are often clearly marked as well. If you encounter tricky words such as the lawyer's term acórdão (ah-CORE-down), remember that the stress is marked by the acute accent, not the tilde.

Similar to Spanish: Words ending in -a, -e, -o, -m, or -s are stressed on the next to the last syllable. Words ending in any consonant except -m or -s are stressed on the last syllable. (Portuguese words end in m instead of n.)

Dissimilar to Spanish: Words ending in -i and -u are stressed on the last syllable. This includes the nasal vovels -im and -um. (The final -m is not pronounced as a consonant here.)

Exceptions to the above will have an accent mark. This is why the word táxi is accented in Portuguese, but not in Spanish.

While in many languages, the accent mark indicates the stress, and the vowel used indicates the sound, Portuguese sometimes reverses this concept (though not in the same word). The accent mark shortens the vowel sound, and which of two vowels a word ends with determines the stress, but both have the same sound. However, accent marks have priority in determining which syllable is stressed.

Words ending in -e and -i have the same sound (ee), but -e is stressed on the next to the last syllable, and -i is stressed on the last syllable. The diphthong ei is used for the long "a" (as in weigh) sound at the end of a stressed syllable.

Words ending in -o and -u have the same sound (oo), but -o is stressed on the next to the last syllable, and -u is stressed on the last syllable. The diphthong ou is used for the long "o" (as in four) sound at the end of a stressed syllable.

Vowels

a

like father

ã

like the u in the English word hum (nasal)

e

like set, say, or eight. At the end of words it is pronounced as a short ee.

See also the diphthong ei

closed e

like herd. Often spelled with an accent mark: ê

é

like let

i

like machine

o

Usually rounded (like in cold) except at the end of a word, when it is pronounced as a short oo, as in the English word to. See also the diphthong ou.

open o

like in hot. Also spelled ó

ô

like in low.

õ

say mown or song with mouth open, end nasally

u

like soup or book

Consonants

Regional accents have somewhat been homogenized by mass media, but still vary widely. The Luso speech's sonic trait of "windsurfing between the vowels", rarely unmentioned by comparative phonology scholars, is very present in the "carioca", "maranhense" and "paraense" regional accents. The Paulista and southern accents are very influenced by Italian and Spanish immigration, and will accordingly roll their R's; elsewhere, a more English "H" sound (or the French R) is used instead. The M is also nasalised at the end of words (sim, mim) and the English "M" sound should be dropped even if the next word begins with a vowel. In this phrasebook, it's represented by an N (the closest possible sound). Also, be careful with words containing "Te" and "Ti" (see below).

b

like 'b' in "bed"

c

like 'c' in "cat"

ce     ci

like in cell and civil.

ç

like 's' in soft or super. The mark below the letter "c" is called a cedilla in English or cedilha in Portuguese. It is used to force the soft C before vowels other than E or I.

d

like 'd' in "dog". Like 'j' in "jump" when before an "i" or "e"

f

like 'f' in "father"

g

like 'g' in "good". Same as the d above, the letter is never softened between vowels as in Spanish. Example: foguete (foo-GHETT-chee, rocket)

ge     gi

like 's' in pleasure

h

Silent. See Common digraphs below and r and rr for the English "h" sound. Note: many Spanish words starting with this silent "H" begin with "F" in Portuguese (and in other Romance languages) such as "hacer" v.s "fazer" (to do).

j

like 's' in pleasure

k

Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. See letters c and q for the English "k" sound.

l

like 'l' in "love". The final L is vocalised (like in "cold"). Brazilians will make it a "u" sound (like in "mal" sounding like the English "ow", as in "now".) Unlike English, words ending in L are normally stressed on the final syllable. Example: capital (cah-pee-TAU)

m...

like 'm' in "mother".

...m

Nasalizes the preceding vowel, and is dropped at the end of a word.

n

like nice. Nasalizes the preceding vowel and is silent when followed by a consonant. (See Common digraphs below.)

p

like 'p' in "pig"

q

like "unique". Qu is usually followed by e  or i  as a way to get the k sound. Words with qua will sound just as 'qua' in the English word "quack".

r...

like 'h' in "help", only harder. See also RR in Common Digraphs below. It's often pronounced like a Spanish J.

...r

like 'r' in "Harry".

...r...

like the Spanish 'r'.

• Examples:

        fresta (FRES-tah)   a loophole
        hora (OH-rah)   hour, time

s

like "hiss" at the beginning of words, "haze" between vowels, "sure" in final position/before consonants in Rio de Janeiro, or as s elsewhere (like the regular plural ending sound in English).

t

like 't' in "top"

...te   (if unstressed, i.e. no accent mark)  
te + a...  (the 'a' is pronounced in the next syllable)
ti   (in any syllable)
        like 'chee' in cheese
Note this is completely different from Spanish

• Examples:

        teatro (chee-AHT-roh)   theatre
        tipo (CHEE-po)   type
        rotina (ho-CHEE-nah)   routine
        assisti (ah-sist-CHEE)   I watched/helped/attended
        teste (TES-chee)   test
        até (ah-TEH)   until

v

like 'v' in "victory"

w

Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. Mostly pronounced as 'v' (Volkswagen) or 'u' (Wilson).

x

like "box", "shoe", "zip" or even "yes". The correct pronunciation of the X is not easy to deduce. It is usually pronounced like sh before a vowel, and "ks" if preceding another consonant (but not always).

y

Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. The digraph lh sounds like a "ly". (see Common digraphs below)

z

like 'z' in "zebra," or like a soft s when final ("paz", "luz")

Common diphthongs

Two vowels together not listed as diphthongs usually means a hiato, or syllable split. Example: ia in Bahia (bah-EE-ah). Any accent mark (not counting the tilde such as ão and õe) will split a diphthong into two regular vowels (see above).

am

same as ã and â, but unstressed     andam (AHN-downg)   they walk (nasal)

ai

like bike (often equivalent to Spanish 'AY')     praia   beach

aí   (with an accent)

Not a diphthong; just a, (new syllable), stressed i     saída (sah-EE-dah) exit

ão

similar to uwng (u as in cup)     dão   they give (nasal)

ao

used only in contractions, and the same sound as au below

au

like house     Manaus   THE city in the Amazon River

ei

like say (best equivalent to Spanish 'E')     meio (MAY-oo)   half.

eu

the e vowel (similar to the A in "say") plus a w semivowel, very unheard in English     Europa   Europe

em

like reign     viagem   travel or journey; Belém (bay-LEIGN) do Pará (nasal).

ói

like boy     constrói   he constructs

oi

like the British Oi!     oito   eight

om

same as õ, but closing the mouth with a brief M afterwards;     som   sound (nasal)

ou

as in own   false diphthong   (pronounced the same as the Portuguese vowel 'Ô')     sou (sô)   I am   Do not pronounce as "OY  " as in Spanish. Doing so is portuñol and will mark you as a gringo.

õe

nasal oi     ele põe   he puts; Luís Vaz de Camões (nasal)

um

like room     algum some (nasal)

Common digraphs

ch

like machine (sh sound) Completely different from Spanish. In Brazil, letter t when followed by i or final e produces the Spanish & English "ch" sound (see above).

• Example:

        chuva (SHOO-vah)   rain

lh

like million (equivalent to Spanish LL) Note: Spanish words starting with "LL" very often convert to "CH" (with the sh sound) in Portuguese (see above)

• Example:

        velho (VEL-yo)   old

...nh...

like canyon (equivalent to Spanish Ñ and NI, but note that Ñ most often becomes just N in Portuguese)

• Examples:

        banho (BAN-yo)   bath;   piranha (pee-RAHN-yah) man-eating fish, also pejorative term for "prostitute"

...nr...

the r is pronounced like help

• Example:

        honra (ON-ha)   honor

...rr...

In Brazil, like help (same as R at the beginning of a word).

• Example:

        cachorro (cah-SHOW-ho)   dog

...ss...

prevents the S becoming Z between vowels.

• Examples:

        assado (ah-SAH-doo, roasted); casado (cah-ZAH-doo, married) / cassado (cah-SAH-doo, debarred from office)