How to read and say Portuguese

The pronunciation in Portugal differs significantly from that in Brazil. The difference is basically in pronunciation and a few vocabulary differences, which make it tricky even for Brazilians to understand the European Portuguese accent. Speech rhythm differs between the countries. European Portuguese is what linguists call "stress-timed", which is the same speech rhythm used by English speakers. This leads to unstressed vowels being reduced or omitted altogether by speakers in Portugal. Depending on circumstances, Brazilian Portuguese varies between stress-timed and "syllable-timed", the more "musical" speech rhythm found in languages such as French, Italian, and Spanish.

Vowels

Nasal vowels Like French, Portuguese has its share of nasal vowels. These are written in one of six ways: A tilde over the vowel: ã, õ (This is also the phonetic representation of the nasal vowel.) Any vowel followed by m at the end of a word Any vowel followed by n plus a consonant (except nh) Any vowel followed by m plus b or p The vowel â with the circumflex (stressed) The diphthong ui, if in the middle of a word Often, but not always, nasal vowels occur at the end of a word. Examples: imã (EE-muhn, magnet; a tricky word, end it nasally, don't move your tongue or close the mouth for the final N), rã (frog; say aloud the English word "run" with a guttural (throat-clearing) R and not closing your mouth for the final N, and you'll be fairly close), irmã (eer-MUHN with mouth open, sister); diphthongs: irmão (eer-MUHNW, brother), cão (kuhnw, dog), Camões (the Portuguese poet) andam (UHN-duhnw, they walk), viagem (vee-AH-zhehn, trip), ruim (roo-EEN, bad), bom (bohn, good), algum (ahl-GOON, singular male form of adjective "some") antes (UHN-t(ih)sh, before), mundo (MOON-doo, world), ano (UHN-noo, year), but not nulo (NOO-loo, null), enorme (ee-NOHR-m(ih), enormous), banho (BUH-nyoo, bath), etc.) emprego (ehn-PR(IH)-goo, job), simples (SEEM-pl(ih)sh, simple), combinar (kohn-bee-NAHR, to combine, to harmonize one's clothes, to set up a date), penumbra (pehn-OOM-bruh, astronomical word) lâmpada (LUHM-puh-duh, lamp), but not você, avô (uh-VOH, grandfather), etc. muito (MUHNY-too, much): slight nasalization

Many vowel sounds do not have exact equivalents in English, so examples below are the best approximations.

a

as the 'a' in "about" [uh]  (IPA: ɐ)

á

as the 'a' in "father" [ah]  (IPA: a)

â

as the 'a' in "about" [uh]  (IPA: ɐ), usually nasalized, as it's typically follows by n or m [uhn]  (IPA: ɐ̃)

ã, -am, -an, -âm, -ân

a nasal sound like 'um' in "umbrella" [uhn]  (IPA: ɐ̃)

e

like 'i' in "him" [ih]  (IPA: ɨ), or nearly absent at the end of many words and in unstressed syllables

é

long sound as the 'e' in "get" [eh]  (IPA: ɛ)

ê

similar to the 'i' in "ill" [ih]  (IPA: ɨ)

-em, -en, -êm, -ên

nasal sound like 'en' in "end" [ehn]  (IPA: ẽ)

i

as the 'ee' in "week" [ee]  (IPA: i)

-im, -in, -ím, -ín

nasal sound like 'ing' in "wing" [een]  (IPA: ĩ)

o

as the 'o' in "open" [oh]  (IPA: o), often reduced or nearly silent at the end of words after a "t" or "d"; in many positions, like the 'oo' in "boot" [oo]  (IPA: u)

ó

like the 'a' in "awful" [aw]  (IPA: ɔ)

ô

like the 'oa' in "coat" [oh]  (IPA: o), but less rounded

-om, -on, -ôm, -ôn

nasal sound like "Ohm" [ohn]  (IPA: õ)

u

as the 'oo' "boot" [oo]  (IPA: u)

-um, -un, -úm, -ún

nasal sound like 'um' in "hum" [oom]  (IPA: ũ)

Consonants

b

[b] like boy (IPA: b)

c

[k] like scam (before a, o, or u; IPA: k)

[s, ss] like peace (before e or i, or with a cedilha, ç; IPA: s)

d

[d] like do (IPA: d)

f

[f] like fin (IPA: f)

g

[g] like go (before a, o, or u; IPA: ɡ). When followed by "u" the "u" is usually silent when it's followed by "e" or "i".

[zh] like sabotage (before e or i; IPA: ʒ)

h

silent at the beginning of a word; see digraphs the "ch", "lh", and "nh" below

j

[zh] like measure (IPA: ʒ)

k

[k] like skit (found only in loanwords; IPA: k)

l

[l, ll] light L (higher-pitched, non-dental), like British light (IPA: l)

m

[m] like milk (IPA: m)

n

[n] like nose (IPA: n)

p

[p] like spin (IPA: p)

q

[k] like skit (IPA: k). The following "u" is pronounced like the semi-vowel "w" before "a" as in quando ("when", KWUHN-doo, /ˈkwɐ̃.du./) or "o" (uncommon words only). The "u" is silent when followed by an "e" as in quente ("hot", KEHN-t(ih), /ˈkẽ.tɨ/) or an "i" as in quinta ("fifth", "Thursday", "farm", or "villa", KEEN-tuh, /ˈkĩ.tɐ/).

r

[r] flapped R, like American butter (IPA: ɾ), or [rr] guttural R, pronounced at the back of the throat (IPA: ʁ), depending on context. "rr" is always guttural.

s

[s] like seem (when at the beginning of a word or when followed by an "s"; IPA: s)

s

[sh] like pressure (when at the end of a word or when followed by a consonant other than "s"; IPA: ʃ), e.g., gostaria ("I/he/she would like", goosh-tuh-REE-uh, /guʃ.tɐ.ˈɾi.ɐ/)

s

[z] like busy (if preceded and followed by vowels; IPA: z), e.g., casa /KAH-zuh/

t

[t] like still (IPA: t)

v

[v] like very (IPA: v)

w

[w] like will (found only in loanwords; IPA: w)

x

[ks] like taxi (IPA: ks), [sh] like ship (IPA: ʃ), or [s] like seem (IPA: s), depending on context

y

[y] like hallelujah (found only in loanwords; IPA: j)

z

[z] like zoo (IPA: z)

[zh] like measure (IPA: ʒ)

Common diphthongs

ãe, ãi

as 'ai' in "main" but nasalised [uhny]  (IPA: ɐ̃j̃)

ai, ái

like 'ie' in "pie" [igh]  (IPA: aj)

ão

as 'ow' in "cow" but nasalised [uhnw]  (IPA: ɐ̃w̃)

au, áu

as 'ow' in "cow" [ahw]  (IPA: aw)

ei, éi, êi

as 'ay' in "play" [ehy]  (IPA: ɐj)

eu, êu

as in the exclamation "ew!" [ihw]  (IPA: ew)

eu, éu

like "eh oo" [ehw]  (IPA: ɛw)

õe

as 'oy' in "oyster" but nasalised [ohny]  (IPA: õj̃)

oi, ôi

as 'oy' in "oyster" [ohy]  (IPA: oj)

oi, ói

as 'oy' in "oyster", but less rounded [awy]  (IPA: ɔj)

ou

as 'oo' in "took", but less rounded [ohw]  (IPA: ow)

ui

as 'wee' in "week" [ooy]  (IPA: uj), may nasalised as in the word "mui" [oony]  (IPA: ũj̃)

Common digraphs

ch

[sh] like ship (IPA: ʃ)

lh

[ly] somewhat like million (IPA: ʎ)

nh

[ny] somewhat like canyon (IPA: ɲ)

Stress

As a general guide, stress the penultimate (last-but-one) syllable in most words unless it ends with any of the following letters: -i, -l, -r, -u, -x, -z, -im, -um, -ins, -is, -uns, -us – in which case, the stress is on the last syllable. Words that are stressed on syllables not according to these rules will have a written accent on the accented syllable.

Pseudo-phoneticization

Wikivoyage provides pronunciation help in certain contexts such as phrasebooks and destination names. Wikivoyage's pronunciation help mainly uses pseudo-phoneticization, for which readers can find a simplified pronunciation guide.

Beyond this preferred standard, you may also find:

• IPA, the International Phonetic Alphabet
• recorded sound files

This section serves as a bridge between Wikivoyage's pseudo-phoneticization, IPA symbols, and the sounds specific to the Portuguese language as spoken in Portugal. This article should not be used for Brazilian Portuguese, but it will provide some guidance for other Portuguese-speaking countries.

Vowel sounds

Portuguese has several vowel sounds not found in English. These are rendered as close but inexact approximations.

Portuguese vowel sounds

Wikivoyage pseudo-phoneticization	IPA	Portuguese example	English approximation	Sound
ah	a	falámos	father
aw	ɔ	hospital	off
ee	i	dia	see
eh	ɛ	café	set
ih	e	mesa	they, varies
(ih)	ɨ	de (often barely audible or absent)	emission, varies
oh	o	avô	row
oo	u	rua	boot
uh	ɐ	manhã	about

Consonant sounds

Portuguese consonants mostly sound like their English equivalents. A few can only be given as approximations, such as ʎ (ly), ɲ (ny), ɾ (r), ʁ (rr).

Portuguese consonant sounds

Wikivoyage pseudo-phoneticization	IPA	Portuguese example	English approximation	Sound
b	b	cabeça	baby
d	d	digo	today
f	f	café	face
g	ɡ	gato	ago
k	k	dica, quente, kiwi	scan, skip
l	l	lua	lot, toll
ly	ʎ	velho	million
m	m	mês	might
n	n	não	not
ny	ɲ	sonho	canyon
p	p	sopa	spouse
r	ɾ	por favor	latter (very roughly)
rr	ʁ	rio, carro, enrascado	French rouge
s	s	saco, isso, braço, máximo	sack
sh	ʃ	escola, dez, chave, baixo	sheep, pressure
t	t	tipo	stand
v	v	vela	vest
z	z	casa, os amigos, doze, existir	zebra
zh	ʒ	já, gente, rasgo, os meus	pleasure

Semivowel sounds

Portuguese semivowel sounds

Wikivoyage pseudo-phoneticization	IPA	Portuguese example	English approximation	Sound
y	j	saia, pais	you, boy
w	w	mau	quick, glow

Other symbols

Other symbols for Portuguese sounds

Wikivoyage pseudo-phoneticization	IPA	Portuguese example	Explanation
CAPITAL LETTERS	ˈ (apostrophe)	falo (FAH-loo, /ˈfa.ɫu/)	stressed syllable
n	˜ (tilde)	inglês (een-GLIHSH, /ĩ.ˈgɫeʃ/)	nasalisation
- (hyphen)	. (full stop/period)	rio (RREE-oo, /ˈʁi.u/)	syllable break
( ) (parentheses)	( ) (parentheses)	Douro (DOH(W)-roo, /ˈdo(w).ɾu/	optional or reduced sound