Pronunciation, stress and accent marks
Portuguese pronunciation follows clear rules: nasal vowels (ão, ãe, im, um), a few letters that change their sound, and written accents that show the stressed syllable. Learn them once and you can read any word.
| spelling | sound | example |
|---|---|---|
| ão, ãe, õe | nasal diphthongs, said through the nose | pão, mãe, lições |
| nh, lh | like “ny” in canyon, “lli” in million | vinho, filho |
| ç, ss | always /s/ | caça, passo |
| s between vowels | /z/ | casa, mesa |
| r / rr at the start, double | a throaty h-like sound | rio, carro |
| de, te (Brazil) | “dji”, “tchi” | cidade, noite |
| x | usually “sh”, sometimes /ks/, /s/ or /z/ | xícara, táxi, próximo, exame |
Where is the stress?
- Words ending in -a, -e, -o (and -am, -em, -as, -es, -os) are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: casa, falamos, jovens.
- Words ending in -r, -l, -z, -i, -u or a nasal vowel are stressed on the last syllable: falar, Brasil, rapaz, aqui, irmã.
- An accent mark overrides both rules and shows the stress: música, café, lâmpada. ´ opens the vowel, ^ closes it: avó (grandmother) / avô (grandfather).
- In Brazil final -e sounds like “i” and final -o like “u”: leite, carro. In Portugal unstressed vowels are reduced much more, so European Portuguese sounds faster and more “swallowed”.
Examples
- Meu filho mora em São Paulo.My son lives in São Paulo.
- Você quer pão com manteiga?Do you want bread and butter?
- A mãe dela é médica.Her mother is a doctor.
- O café está quente.The coffee is hot.
- Minha avó e meu avô moram no Rio.My grandmother and my grandfather live in Rio.
- Eu não falo português muito bem.I don’t speak Portuguese very well.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Eu nao falo inglês.✓ Eu não falo inglês.English has no tilde, but in não it marks the nasal vowel, and without it the word is not Portuguese at all.
- ✗ Ela e brasileira.✓ Ela é brasileira.The accent on é (is) is not decoration: e without it means “and”, a difference English spelling never marks with an accent.
- ✗ Minha avô mora em Lisboa.✓ Minha avó mora em Lisboa.avó with an acute accent is the grandmother and avô with a circumflex is the grandfather; English uses two different words, so learners forget that only the accent changes.
- ✗ Eu gosto de musica brasileira.✓ Eu gosto de música brasileira.Without the accent, musica would be stressed on the second-to-last syllable; the written ú shows that the stress falls on the first syllable, as in English “music”.
- ✗ Nos somos amigos.✓ Nós somos amigos.nós (we) needs its accent; nos without it is the object pronoun “us” or “in the”, so the accent tells the reader which word you mean.