LESSON 03 – CONSONANTS
b – always as in English (balão)
c – when before a, o
and u, like “k” (cabeça,
coração, curva)
when before e and I, it sounds like “s” in
“see” (céu, cinema)
ç (c cedilha) – the cedilha, a small s,
is put under the letter c to make it sound
like an s (cabeça,
poço, açúcar)
d – when before a, e,
o and u, as in English (dar, dedo, doutor, dúvida)
when before i or an e that sounds like I,
like English “j” (dinheiro,
verdade)
f – always as in English (faca)
g – when before a, o
and u, as in English (ganhar)
when before e and i, like the “s” in pleasure
and vision (gelo,
agir)
*the rules for Portuguese g and j are
the same as the French ones
h – always silent, it takes part
in some clusters
j – always like the “s” in pleasure
and vision (Japão,
jegue, jipe, jogo, justiça)
k – when it appears in a word, it always
sounds as in English
l – when at the beginning of the word,
between vowels and after a consonant, as in English
(lobo, bolo, plano, blusa)
when at the end of a syllable and at the end of the word,
it gets a “w” sound (or a short
Portuguese u sound) (alto, animal)
m – as in English (macaco, amigo), except at the
end of a syllable and at the end of the
word, where it’s not pronounced, it just nasalizes the preceding vowel (fim)
n – as in English (nada, pano), except at the
end of a syllable and at the end of the word,
where it’s not pronounced, it just nasalizes the preceding vowel (canto)
p – always as in English (pano)
q – always as in English (querer)
r – when at the beginning and at the end of the
word, like a weak English h ( weaker
at the end, sometimes silent, especially in verbs) (rato, amor, cantar)
when doubled (rr),
like a weak h (carro,
morrer)
when between vowels, as the d or the t in
“body”, “better” (American pronunciation),
as in Spanish (pêra, porém)
when after any consonant but r, s and l,
as the d or the t in “body”, “better” (American pronunciation) (prato, Brasil, droga, trabalho)
s – when at the beginning and at
the end of a word, as in English (sair, ás)
when doubled, as in English (assim)
when after a consonant, as in English (falso, curso). Exceptions:
words with “trans”, where it
sounds like z (transição)
when between vowels, like z (casa)
t – when before a, e,
o and u, as in English (never as in “better” in American pronunciation) (tela)
when before I and e that sounds like i,
like English ch (tia,
triste)
v – as in English (it doesn’t sound like b
as in Spanish) (vida,
você)
w – usually in names, and it will depend on the
origin of the word
x – at the beginning of the word, like English
sh (xícara)
when after “n”, like English sh (enxada)
when before p and c, like “s” (exceto)
when at the end of the word, like ks (tórax, fênix)
when between two vowels, it usually sounds like “z” (exército, exato). Exceptions are táxi and tóxico
z – as in English (azul); like “s” at the
end of the word (paz)
balão – balloon fim – end
cabeça – head canto
– I sing; corner
coração – heart pano
– cloth
curva – curve querer
– to want
céu – sky, heaven rato – rat
poço – well (of water) carro – car
açúcar
– sugar morrer – to die
dar – to give pêra – pear
dedo – finger, toe porém – but
(more formal)
doutor
– doctor prato – plate, dish
dúvida
– doubt droga – drug
dinheiro – money trabalho – work, job, I work
verdade – truth sair
– to leave, to go out
faca – knife ás – ace
gato – cat assim
– thus, like this
gelo
– ice transição – transition
agir – to act tela – screen
jegue – donkey tia
– aunt
jipe – jeep triste – sad
jogo – game xícara
– cup
justiça
– justice enxada – hoe
lobo – wolf exceto
– except
bolo
– cake exército – army
plano – plan azul
– blue
blusa– blouse paz
– peace
alto – tall, high
macaco – monkey, ape
amigo – friend