Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation Guide
Throughout this series, I’ll teach you step by step how to pronounce the sounds of Brazilian Portuguese, from simplest to most complex.
You’ll also learn how to avoid the most common pronunciation mistakes made even by advanced students.
1 - The Portuguese Alphabet
Just as in English, Portuguese is composed of 26 letters, 21 consonants and 5 vowels.
In this lesson you’ll learn how to spell all the Portuguese letters.
2 - How to Pronounce The Letters B and C
Today we’ll take a closer look at the sounds of the consonants B and C.
The letter C will always have the sound /K/ before the vowels A, O and U.
3 - How to Pronounce The Letters D and T in Portuguese
In this video I’ll show you the sounds of the consonants: D and T. The letter D will always have the sound /D/, before the vowels a, o, u. As in document, dog.
4 - The Sounds of The Letters R and H
Different from English, the letter H is not pronounced in Portuguese. And here there’s no exception.
If R is in the begining of a word, we pronounce it as the letter “h” in English. This sound also happens in the end of syllable or word: Porta, Carpete.
Learn also other sound of the letter R that many English speakers struggle to make.
5 - How to Pronounce The Letter L in Brazilian Portuguese
Finally you’ll learn how to pronounce correctly the letter L in Brazilian Portuguese.
When the consonant L is in the end of a word or syllable, we pronounce it like the letter W in English. Press play to see more examples.
6 - The Sounds of The Letters G and J
Now it’s time to learn how to pronounce the letters G and J in Brazilian Portuguese.
Before A, O, U and CONSONANTS, the letter G is pronounced as in English. When the consonant G comes before E or I, it has a different sound.
7 - How to Pronounce X and CH in Portuguese
It’s very easy to make the sound CH.
But, with the letter X, things get complicated. This consonant can have 4 different sounds!
8 - How to Pronounce the Letters S and Z
Now it’s time to learn how to pronounce the letters S and Z Brazilian Portuguese. S in the beginning of a word will always have the same sound as the S in save.
Let’s see the other sound.
9 - The sounds of the Letters K, W and Y
Before the Portuguese orthographic reform in 2009, K, W and Y were considered foreign letters.
That’s why we see those letters in few words. Check out their pronounciation.
10 - How to Pronounce The Letters B, F, M, N, P, Q
This letters are quite easy to pronounce, but some of them deserve attention. The words mentioned in the video:
/KW/: quando, quarto, quadro, frequência, cinquenta, sequestrar, tranquilo, aquoso, longínquo, oblíquo.
/K/: quatorze, cheque, quieto, querer, queijo
11 - How to Pronounce LH and NH in Portuguese
I’m going to teach you how to pronounce two of the most challenging sounds for English speakers: the LH and NH.
If you are a native speaker of Spanish, French or Italian it’s easy to pronounce the NH, because you already have this sound in your language.
12 - The Most Challenging Tongue Twisters!
Now we are going to practice the several sounds with tongue twisters or, as we say in Portuguese, trava-línguas!
13 - How to Pronounce The Oral and Nasal Vowels in Portuguese
Portuguese has 5 vowels: a, e, i, o, u.
In fact, Portuguese has 12 vowel sounds: 7 oral and 5 nasal.
Watch the video to learn how to pronounce all of them.
14 - How to Pronounce The "ão" Ending in Portuguese
Learn how to pronounce the “ão” ending in Brazilian Portuguese, one of the most difficult sounds to make for English speakers.
If you don’t say it right, you can be embarrassed! Check it out!
15 - How To Pronounce The "Em" Ending
Now it’s time to learn how to pronounce the “EM” ending.
This ending can be seen in many portuguese words: trem, cem, também etc.
16 - Most Common Brazilian Accents
Learn to recognize and how to make the accents of several capitals.
You will also meet the the five letters that have the most sound variation in Brazilian Portuguese.
