Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to recognise the Brazilian Portuguese alphabet and pronounce its most important sound patterns.
Lesson Explanation
Portuguese uses the 26-letter alphabet. The hardest early sounds are not the letters themselves but nasal vowels and letter combinations. nh sounds like Spanish ñ in manhã; lh resembles the lli in million in filho.
A tilde marks nasalisation: não and mãe are not pronounced as separate n sounds. Word-final -m also nasalises the preceding vowel, as in bem.
Brazilian r has two frequent values: initial r and rr are breathy/h-like in Rio and carro; a single r between vowels is tapped, as in caro.
Practice Questions
1. How many letters are in today’s Portuguese alphabet?
View Answer
26.
2. What sound does nh represent?
View Answer
A sound like Spanish ñ.
3. Write the Portuguese word for “morning,” containing nh.
View Answer
manhã.
4. What does a tilde show?
View Answer
That the vowel is nasalised.
5. Write “no/not” in Portuguese.
View Answer
não.
6. How is initial r commonly pronounced in Brazil?
View Answer
With a breathy, h-like sound.
7. Which word has a tapped single r: caro or carro?
View Answer
caro.
8. Which spelling has the strong r sound?
View Answer
carro, with rr.
9. What does final -m usually do?
View Answer
It nasalises the preceding vowel.
10. Write “well” in Portuguese.
View Answer
bem.
11. What sound does lh represent?
View Answer
A sound close to the lli in “million.”
12. Write the Portuguese word for “son.”
View Answer
filho.