The Brazilian alphabet

Latin letters, accent marks, and your first nasal sounds.

Brazilian Portuguese uses the 26-letter Latin alphabet plus a generous helping of accent marks: á à â ã ç é ê í ó ô õ ú. The letters are familiar; the sounds are not. Two things define the Brazilian accent: every vowel rings out clearly, and de and te soften into 'jee' and 'chee'. The most important word you'll meet today is oi.

Vowels — open, closed, and nasal

Each vowel has an 'open' and a 'closed' version. The accent tells you which: á is open (like 'a' in 'father'), â is closed (like the 'u' in 'cut'). Same with é (open, like 'e' in 'bet') vs ê (closed). Nasal vowels are written with a tilde — ã, õ — or signalled by a following m/n: mãe (mother), pão (bread), bom (good), sim (yes). Push the air partly through your nose. Unlike Portugal, Brazil pronounces unstressed vowels fully: pequeno = pe-KEH-noo, never p'KEH-noo.

The Brazilian signature: di, ti

This is the sound that says 'Brazil' more than any other. de and di become 'jee': dia (day) = JEE-ah, cidade (city) = see-DAH-jee. te and ti become 'chee': noite (night) = NOY-chee, gente (people) = ZHEN-chee. Final -te and -de do it too, which is why sete (seven) is SEH-chee.

Consonants with surprises

lh sounds like the 'lli' in 'million': filho (son) = FEE-lyoo. nh sounds like 'ny' in 'canyon': senhor (sir) = seh-NYOR. ç always sounds like 's': março (March), almoço (lunch). ch sounds like English 'sh': chá (tea) = shah. Word-initial r and double rr are breathy, like an English 'h': carro (car) = KAH-hoo, rio (river) = HEE-oo. Final -l sounds like 'w': Brasil = bra-ZEEW.

Stress and the accent mark

Default stress is on the second-to-last syllable. When the stress lands somewhere else, an accent goes on the stressed vowel: café = ka-FEH, rápido = HA-pee-doo. The acute (´) marks an open vowel, the circumflex (^) marks a closed one. The tilde (~) marks a nasal vowel and often pulls the stress with it: irmã (sister) = eer-MAN.

Examples

oi = oy — the everyday Brazilian greeting. olá works too, but sounds a little more formal.

casa

house

casa = KAH-zah — the s between vowels sounds like 'z', and the final -a rings out clearly.

sim

yes

sim = seeng (nasal) — the m at the end isn't pronounced as a separate consonant.

não

não = nowng — the ão is a strong nasal diphthong.

pão

bread

pão = powng — same nasal ão.

obrigado

thank you (said by a man)

obrigado if you're male, obrigada if you're female. The word literally means 'obligated'.

cidade

city

cidade = see-DAH-jee — hear the Brazilian 'de' at the end.