Lesson 03 - Alphabets & Pronunciation

Pronunciation

Portuguese Letter	English Sound
a	like a in after
e	like e in empty or if it's at the end of a word, like ee in cheese
i	always like ee
o	like the sound of all but without the l sound
u	always like oo in fool
lh	like lli in million but shorter
h	mute
nh	like ny in canyon
r	in beginning of word like h in hot. Between two letters like the Italian r in Maria
rr	always like h in hot
d	like in English
j	like in English but without the d sound. Something like zh or a hard sh
g	before e and i like j. Otherwise like g in go
gue, gui	the g in go followed by e or i
qua, quo	are always pronounced separetely, like kwa, kwo
s	between vowels, like z in zoo. Otherwise like s in same
x	sometimes like sh in shift or like z in zoo
ç	like ss but only comes before an e or i
z	like in English
ã	like oe in does
â	like ã but shorter
á	like a in Artic
à	double a
ê	like e but shorter
é	like a im apple
í	like i but longer
ô	like o but shorter
ó	like o in more
ú	like u but longer
ü	shows that the letter u must be pronounced separately. Ex: freqüência frekwência (frequence)
ch	like sh in shift
õe	like "oen"

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Alphabet

a	ah	j	jota	t	tê
b	bê	l	éle	u	oo
c	cê	m	ême	v	vê
d	dê	n	êne	x	xis
e	ê	o	o	z	zê
f	éfe	p	pê	Foreign letters
g	gê	q	quê	k	ká
h	agá	r	érre	w	dábliu
i	ee	s	ésse	y	ípsolon

Note: The letter ç (cê cedilha) is not part of the alphabet.