Alfabeto e pronúncia

A1 — Fonética

Portuguese alphabet, nasal vowels, ç, lh, nh, and pronunciation rules

Can recognize Portuguese special sounds (nasal vowels, ç, lh, nh) and distinguish rr from r

Portuguese alphabet, nasal vowels, ç, lh, nh, and pronunciation rules

Examples

Amanhã é um bom dia. — Tomorrow is a good day.
O carro é caro. — The car is expensive.
Eu trabalho com chá e açúcar. — I work with tea and sugar.

FonéticaA1

Portuguese Alphabet & Pronunciation

Portuguese alphabet, nasal vowels, ç, lh, nh, and pronunciation rules

Learning Goal

Can recognize Portuguese special sounds (nasal vowels, ç, lh, nh) and distinguish rr from r

Exam Skills:VISC-A1

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

Amanhã é um bom dia.

Tomorrow is a good day.

O carro é caro.

The car is expensive.

Eu trabalho com chá e açúcar.

I work with tea and sugar.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

O alfabeto português tem 26 letras (desde 2009 com k, w, y). Sons especiais incluem vogais nasais (ã, õ), a cedilha (ç) e os dígrafos lh, nh, ch.

Letra/Dígrafo	Som	IPA	Exemplo
Ã ã	a nasal	[ɐ̃]	maçã (apple)
Õ õ	o nasal	[õ]	limões (lemons)
Ç ç	s (antes de a, o, u)	[s]	açúcar (sugar)
LH lh	lh (como 'lli' italiano)	[ʎ]	trabalho (work)
NH nh	nh (como 'ñ' espanhol)	[ɲ]	amanhã (tomorrow)
CH ch	ch (como 'sh' inglês)	[ʃ]	chá (tea)
RR rr	r forte	[ʁ] ou [h]	carro (car)
SS ss	s (entre vogais)	[s]	pássaro (bird)

Vogais nasais ocorrem antes de m/n na mesma sílaba ou com til (~): sim [sĩ], bom [bõ], um [ũ].

BP vs EP: No Brasil, ti/di antes de vogal soam [tʃi/dʒi]: dia → [ˈdʒiɐ]. Em Portugal, o e átono quase desaparece: telefone → [tɫˈfɔn].

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Learners forget nasal vowels — 'irmã' without nasalization sounds like 'irma'. The rr/r distinction is crucial: 'caro' (expensive) vs 'carro' (car). 🇬🇧 English speakers: No nasal vowels in English — practice ã/õ with mouth partially closed. CH=[ʃ] is like 'sh'. LH/NH don't exist in English.

Amanhã é um bom dia.

Tomorrow is a good day.

Amanhã has the nasal nh [ɲ] and nasal ã. Bom [bõ] has a nasal o. Dia [ˈdʒiɐ] in BP.

O carro é caro.

The car is expensive.

Carro [ˈkaʁu] with rr (strong r) vs caro [ˈkaɾu] with single r (flap). Minimal pair!

Eu trabalho com chá e açúcar.

I work with tea and sugar.

Trabalho has lh [ʎ]. Chá has ch [ʃ]. Açúcar has ç [s] before u. Three key Portuguese sounds!

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

A1 Course

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Put it into practice

Try a free exercise from the course

Frequently asked questions

When is Alfabeto e pronúncia used?: O alfabeto português tem 26 letras (desde 2009 com k, w, y). Sons especiais incluem vogais nasais (ã, õ), a cedilha (ç) e os dígrafos lh, nh, ch.
How is Alfabeto e pronúncia formed?: Vogais nasais ocorrem antes de m/n na mesma sílaba ou com til (~): sim [sĩ], bom [bõ], um [ũ]. BP vs EP: No Brasil, ti/di antes de vogal soam [tʃi/dʒi]: dia → [ˈdʒiɐ]. Em Portugal, o e átono quase desaparece: telefone → [tɫˈfɔn].
What are common mistakes with Alfabeto e pronúncia?: Learners forget nasal vowels — 'irmã' without nasalization sounds like 'irma'. The rr/r distinction is crucial: 'caro' (expensive) vs 'carro' (car). 🇬🇧 English speakers: No nasal vowels in English — practice ã/õ with mouth partially closed. CH=[ʃ] is like 'sh'. LH/NH don't exist in English. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: No nasal vowels in Russian. LH/NH are new — щ is NOT the same as lh. Russian р is trilled, Portuguese rr is guttural [ʁ]. 🇨🇿 Czech speakers: No nasal vowels in Czech. Ř is NOT like Portuguese rr. CH in Czech is [x], but in Portuguese it's [ʃ]. 🇩🇪 German speakers: CH in German is [x/ç], but in Portuguese it's [ʃ]. No nasal vowels in German. Ü/ö don't exist in Portuguese.

Letra/Dígrafo

Som

IPA

Exemplo

Ã ã

a nasal

[ɐ̃]

maçã (apple)

Õ õ

o nasal

[õ]

limões (lemons)

Ç ç

s (antes de a, o, u)

[s]

açúcar (sugar)

LH lh

lh (como 'lli' italiano)

[ʎ]

trabalho (work)

NH nh

nh (como 'ñ' espanhol)

[ɲ]

amanhã (tomorrow)

CH ch

ch (como 'sh' inglês)

[ʃ]

chá (tea)

RR rr

r forte

[ʁ] ou [h]

carro (car)

SS ss

s (entre vogais)

[s]

pássaro (bird)

Frequently asked questions

When is Alfabeto e pronúncia used?

O alfabeto português tem 26 letras (desde 2009 com k, w, y). Sons especiais incluem vogais nasais (ã, õ), a cedilha (ç) e os dígrafos lh, nh, ch.

How is Alfabeto e pronúncia formed?

Vogais nasais ocorrem antes de m/n na mesma sílaba ou com til (~): sim [sĩ], bom [bõ], um [ũ]. BP vs EP: No Brasil, ti/di antes de vogal soam [tʃi/dʒi]: dia → [ˈdʒiɐ]. Em Portugal, o e átono quase desaparece: telefone → [tɫˈfɔn].

What are common mistakes with Alfabeto e pronúncia?

Learners forget nasal vowels — 'irmã' without nasalization sounds like 'irma'. The rr/r distinction is crucial: 'caro' (expensive) vs 'carro' (car). 🇬🇧 English speakers: No nasal vowels in English — practice ã/õ with mouth partially closed. CH=[ʃ] is like 'sh'. LH/NH don't exist in English. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: No nasal vowels in Russian. LH/NH are new — щ is NOT the same as lh. Russian р is trilled, Portuguese rr is guttural [ʁ]. 🇨🇿 Czech speakers: No nasal vowels in Czech. Ř is NOT like Portuguese rr. CH in Czech is [x], but in Portuguese it's [ʃ]. 🇩🇪 German speakers: CH in German is [x/ç], but in Portuguese it's [ʃ]. No nasal vowels in German. Ü/ö don't exist in Portuguese.