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The Portuguese alphabet has 23 letters:
Portuguese pronunciation shown below, with examples of each sound.
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EXAMPLES |
A
a |
Sound changes with
tilda (~) |
animal
(animal)
irmã
(sister) |
B
b |
As in English |
banco (bank) |
| C
c |
Sound changes hard
before a, o,
u
Soft before e
or i or with cedilla (¸) |
café
(coffee)
circulo
(circle)
começar
(eat)
|
D
d |
Almost like English
th |
dia
(day) |
E
e |
Open
sound before i and with gràve
(`) or acute (´) accents
Unstressed, always silent (not Brazil)
Closed sound with circumflex (ˆ) and before final r
First
syllable on its own, like English see
|
exemplo
(example)
mel
(honey)
comer
(eat),
vê
(see)
edifício
(bulding) |
F
f |
As in English |
folha
(leaf) |
| G
g |
Hard before a,
o, u,
in front of consonant
Like s in treasure before
e or i
In gu, u is silent. It is
there to make the g hard
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gato
(cat)
gigante
(huge)
guerra
(war) |
H
h |
It is always silent |
hora
(hour) |
I
i |
Always
pronounced ee |
insecto
(insect) |
J
j |
Like the s
in treasure, before a, o,
u, but not e |
jardim
(garden) |
L
l |
Final l
is lengthened
lh
Has a liquid sound, like billiards |
linha
(live)
fácil
(easy)
melhor
(better)
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M
m |
As in English |
mes
(month) |
N
n |
nh
pronounced like onion in
English |
narina
(nostril)
minha (mine) |
O
o |
Open sound in stressed
position, or has acute accent
or comes before i
Close sound with circumflex, before r
oo sound in unstressed syllables
and on its own
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sol
(sun)
amor
(love), avô (grandfather)
tomar
(take), gato (cat) |
P
p |
As in English |
plantas
(plants) |
Q
q |
Hard sound like
k. The u that follows it
makes sound hard, is not pronounced |
qual
(which) |
| R
r |
Soft
sound between vowels. Emphasised at beginning of word, and at end of word
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rio
(river)
carro
(car), resposta (reply)
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S
s |
Soft
as in salt at beginning of word.
Between vowels, like z
At end of word, pronounced like sh
in Enbglish
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sangue
(blood)
rosa
(rose)
lápis
(pencil) |
T
t |
Like
t. In Brazil, like ch,
especially before e and i |
tecnicos (technician) |
U
u |
Always
pronounced oo |
rua
(street) |
V
v |
As in English |
novo
(new) |
| X
x |
Five sounds. At
beginning, of between vowels, like sh
Z when in prefix ex along
with vowel
Sh when followed by consonant
Foreign words ks as in |
peixe
(fish)
xadrez
(chess)
exército
(exercise)
explicar
(explain)
taxi
(taxi) |
| Z
z |
As zebra,
except at end of word
At end of word, like sh
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zoologico
(zoological), fazer (to do)
luz
(light) |
DIPHTHONGS
ai |
Like English
my |
vai
(go) |
au |
a'oo |
mau
(bad) |
ao |
a'o |
ao
(to) |
ei |
As in same |
falei
(I spoke) |
eu |
ay'oo |
meu
(mine) |
oi |
oy'e |
foi
(it was) |
ou |
o |
falou
(he spoke) |
ui |
oo'e |
fui
(I was) |
NASAL DIPHTHONGS
When m or n
come in front of a, e,
i, o
or u, or have a tilda accent, they
are nasalised.
The nasal diphthongs ao, ae,
ai and oe
are also nasalised jardim, ontem
não, limões.
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