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2. Portuguese 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 | silent |
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 separately, like kwa, kwo |
s | between vowels, like z in zoo; otherwise like z. (In Portugal, like sh when at the end of a word.) |
x | sometimes like sh in shift or like z in zoo |
ç | like ss |
z | like z in English (In Portugal, like zh when at the end of a word.) |
ã | like oe in does |
â | like ã but shorter |
á | like a in Artic |
ê | like e but shorter |
é | like a in apple |
í | like i but longer |
ô | like o but shorter |
ó | like o in more |
ú | like u but longer |
ch | like sh in shift |
õe | like "oen" |
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