The Portuguese alphabet consists of
26 letters (21 consonants
and 5 vowels). The letters K, W and Y
belong to the Portuguese alphabet since the beginning of 2009 and they are used in names (Wagner/Wilson/Yara/Amaury) or with international terms
(kg/km/watt,
etc.).
Remark: It is important to know how to pronounce the alphabet as
sometimes you have to spell your name or ask people to spell something for
you.
The comparison
with English words should help you pronounce the words correctly in
Portuguese. Please note that not every sound can be reproduced in written
form.
LETTER
PORTUGUESE
MEANING
SOUND
ENGLISH
A
aluno
student
sounds like [a]
father
alemã
German
nasal sound
B
bala
candy
sounds like [b]
bay
C
casa
house
ca/co/cu sounds like [k]
key
cedo
early
ce/ci sounds like[s]
city
Ç
moça
young woman
ça/ço/çu sounds like [s]
city
CH
cheque
check
sounds like [sh]
she
D
data
date
sounds like [d]
day
E
letra, você
letter, you
sounds like [e]
them
leite
milk
sounds like [ee] at the end, if unstressed
cheese
festa,
café
party, coffee
sounds like [e]
bed
F
faca
knife
sounds like [f]
for
G
gato
cat
ga/go/gu sounds like [g]
get
gelo
ice
ge/gi sounds like [g]
beige
GU
água
water
gua/guo sounds like
[gw]
Nicaragua
português
Portuguese
gue/gui sounds like [g]
get
linguiça
sausage
gue/gui sounds like
[gw]
Nicaragua
H
hotel
hotel
h is always silent, except for borrowed words such as hall, hobby, etc.
I
camisa
shirt
sounds like [ea]
meat
J
jornal
newspaper
sounds like [g]
beige
L
laranja
orange
la/le/li/lo/lu sounds like [l]
like
Brasil
Brazil
al/el/il/ol/ul sounds like [w]
few
LH
trabalho
work
sounds like [ll]
million
M
mapa
map
sounds like [m]
more
bom
good
sounds between m and n, similar to the French word
bon
N
nada
nothing
sounds like [n]
no
conta
bill
sounds like [n]
contract
NH
amanhã
tomorrow
sounds like [ng], similar to the French words Avignon
and champagne
O
bonito, avô
pretty, grandfather
sounds like [o]
know
livro
book
sounds like [w or o] at the end, if unstressed
boo/know
moda, avó
fashion, grandmother
sounds like [aw]
law
P
pato
duck
sounds like [p]
pie
Q
quase
almost
qua/quo sounds like
[kw]
quick
aqui
here
que/qui sounds like [k]
key
cinquenta
fifty
que/qui sounds like
[kw]
quick
R
recibo
receipt
similar to [h] sound
holiday
honra
honor
similar to [h] sound, if preceded by
n
holiday
carta
letter
sounds like [r], similar to the English or French
r
morning or jour
caro
expensive
similar to [r] sound
Mary
RR
carro
car
similar to [h] sound
holiday
S
sopa
soup
at the beginning sounds like [s]
sea
cansado
tired
if preceded by l/n/r sounds like [s]
sea
inglês
English
after vowels sounds like [s]
must
casa
house
between vowels sounds like [z]
zero
SC
piscina
swimming pool
sce/sci sounds like [s]
sea
SÇ
desça
go down
sça/sço sounds like [s]
sea
SS
assado
roasted
sounds like [s]
sea
T
tomate
tomato
sounds like [t]
top
U
uva
grape
sounds like [w]
boo
V
você
you
sounds like [v]
verb
X
México
Mexico
sounds like [sh]
she
caixa
box/cashier
after ai/ei
sounds like [sh]
she
táxi
taxi
sounds like [ks]
taxi
próximo
next
sounds like [s]
city
excelente
excellent
exce/exci sounds like [s]
city
texto
text
excl/exp/ext sounds like [s]
must
exame
exam
exa/exe/exi/exo/exu sounds like [z]
zero
Z
zero
zero
before a vowel sounds like [z]
zero
feliz
happy
after a vowel sounds like [s]
must
Remark: The
letter x has several different pronunciations.
Even though English is not a Latin language, there are more similarities
between Portuguese and English than you might imagine.
Below you will find a table with Portuguese endings and their corresponding forms
in English. Pronunciation and stress can
sometimes be very different from English and you may find some exceptions, but
in general you should not have a problem if you are familiar with Portuguese.
You can expand your vocabulary very quickly if you know these endings.
