| 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" |
