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About Brazilian Consonants Chart
Need to know do you know the consonants in Brazilian language? In articulatory phonetics, a Brazilian consonant is actually a speech sound that is articulated with full or simply partial closure within the vocal tract. The word consonant can be employed to relate to a letter of the Brazilian alphabet which represents a consonant sound. Learn More
Brazilian Consonants Chart
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Brazilian Consonants in Alphabet
| Using the English "R" sound in the beginning of words can cause confusion. Use the English "H" sound (or the French R) instead. The M is also nasalised at the end of words (sim, mim) and the English "M" | |
| sound should be dropped even if the next word begins with a vowel. In this phrasebook, it's represented by an N (the closest possible sound). Also, be careful with words containing "Te" and "Ti" (see below). | |
| b | like 'b' in "bed" |
| c | like 'c' in "cat" |
| ce ci | like in cell and civil. |
| ç | like 's' in soft or super. The mark below the letter "c" is called a cedilla in English or cedilha in Portuguese. It is used to force the soft C before vowels other than E or I. |
| d | like 'd' in "dog". In some regions of Brazil (e.g. Rio) it is affricate before i (like in dia sounding roughly like an English "j": "jeea"). Unlike Spanish, the d is always pronounced hard, even in between vowels |
| f | like 'f' in "father" |
| g | like 'g' in "good". Same as the d above, the letter is never softened between vowels as in Spanish. |
| ge gi | like 'zh' as in Brezhnev and other East Slavic words. |
| h | Silent. See Common digraphs below and r and rr for the English "h" sound. Note: many Spanish words starting with this silent "H" begin with "F" in Portuguese (and in other Romance languages) such as "hacer" v.s "fazer" (to do). |
| j | like 'zh' as in Brezhnev and many East Slavic words. |
| k | Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. See letters c and q for the English "k" sound. |
| l | like 'l' in "love". The final L is vocalised (like in "cold"). Brazilians will make it a "u" sound (like in "mal" sounding like the English "ow", as in "now".) Unlike English, words ending in L are normally stressed on the final syllable. Capital (cah-pe-TALW) |
| m... | like 'm' in "mother". |
| ...m | Nasalizes the preceding vowel, and is dropped at the end of a word (Luso). Letter 'N' used in the phrasebook for Brazilian pronunciation. |
| n | like nice. Nasalizes the preceding vowel and is silent when followed by a consonant. (See Common digraphs below.) |
| p | like 'p' in "pig" |
| q | like "unique". Qu is usually followed by e or i as a way to get the k sound. Words with qua will sound just as 'qua' in the English word "quack". |
| r... | like 'h' in "help", only harder. See also RR in Common Digraphs below. In European Portuguese, it sounds harder and more trilled than in Spanish. In Brazil it's often pronounced like a Spanish J. |
| ...r | like 'r' in "morning" or the (usually dropped) 'r' in British pronunciation. |
| ...r... | like the Spanish 'r'. |
| Examples | Brazilian pronunciation |
| A loophole | fresta (FRES-tah) |
| Hour, time | hora (OH-rah) |
| s | like "hiss" at the beginning of words, "haze" between vowels, "sure" in Portugal and final position/before consonants in Rio de Janeiro, or as s elsewhere (like the regular plural ending sound in English). |
| t | like 't' in "top" |
| Brazil only -- except some areas near Argentina and Uruguay: | |
| ...te (if unstressed, i.e. no accent mark) | |
| te + a... (the 'a' is pronounced in the next syllable) | |
| ti (in any syllable) | |
| like 'chee' in cheese | |
| Please note | This is completely different from Spanish |
| Examples | Brazilian pronunciation |
| Theatre | teatro (chee-AHT-roh) |
| Type | tipo (CHEE-po) type |
| Routine | rotina (ho-CHEE-nah) |
| I watched/helped/attended | assisti (ah-sist-CHEE) |
| Test | teste (TES-chee) |
| Until | até (ah-TEH) |
| v | like 'v' in "victory" |
| w | Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. Mostly pronounced as 'v' (Volkswagen) or 'u' (Wilson). |
| x | like "box", "shoe", "zip" or even "yes". The correct pronunciation of the X is not easy to deduce. It is usually pronounced like sh before a vowel, and "ks" if preceding another consonant (but not always). |
| y | Found only in words of foreign origin, so pronounce accordingly. The digraph lh sounds like a "ly". (see Common digraphs below) |
| z | like 'z' in "zebra," or like a soft sh or s when final ("paz", "luz") |
Brazilian Diphthongs in Alphabet
| Note: Two vowels together not listed as diphthongs usually means a syllable split. | Example: ia in Bahia. Any accent mark (not counting the tilde such as ão and õe) |
| am | same as ã and â, but unstressed andam they walk (Nasal) |
| ai | like bike (often equivalent to Spanish 'AY') praia beach |
| aí (with an accent) | Not a diphthong; just a, (new syllable), stressed i |
| ão | similar to uwng (u as in cup) dão they give (Nasal) |
| ao | used only in contractions, and the same sound as au below |
| au | like house Manaus Brazilian city in the Amazon |
| ei | In Brazil: like say (best equivalent to Spanish 'E') meio half. In Portugal (i.e. Lisbon and Coimbra): like why or bye (the i or y sound). |
| eu | the e vowel plus a w semivowel (no equivalent in English) Europa Europe |
| em | In Brazil: like reign viagem travel or journey (Nasal). |
| oi | like boy oito eight |
| om | same as õ som sound (Nasal) |
| ou | as in own false diphthong (pronounced the same as the Portuguese vowel 'O') sou I am |
| õe | nasal oi ele põe he puts (Nasal) |
| um | like room algum some (Nasal) |
Select the hyperlinks below to view a list of beneficial Brazilian holiday words and phrases which are arranged by theme. For every holiday phrase in Brazilian, you will notice the English interpretation.
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