Read leite (milk) letter by letter and you expect it to end in "teh". A Brazilian ends it with something close to the chee of cheese: the final e has become an [i], and the t in front of it has turned into [tʃ]. The spelling shows neither change.
This cheat sheet covers Brazilian Portuguese. It lists every vowel, nasal vowel, semivowel and consonant in the Brazilian column of Wikipedia's Portuguese IPA key, each with an example word and its transcription. European Portuguese differs in its vowels, its r and its t and d, so use a European source if you are learning the Lisbon accent.
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How the 38 sounds are counted
The inventory comes from Wikipedia's Help:IPA/Portuguese key, which gives European and Brazilian pronunciations in separate columns. We took every distinct symbol in the Brazilian column and counted each one once:
| Class | Symbols | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Oral vowels | a ɐ ɛ e i ɔ o u | 8 |
| Nasal vowels | ɐ̃ ẽ ĩ õ ũ | 5 |
| Semivowels | j w j̃ w̃ | 4 |
| Consonants | p b t d tʃ dʒ k ɡ f v s z ʃ ʒ m n ɲ l ʎ ɾ ʁ | 21 |
| Total | 38 |
Three things in the key are left out. The stress and syllable marks are not sounds. The [ow] it gives for ouro is /o/ plus /w/, both already counted. And the [w] that an l becomes at the end of a syllable is the same symbol as the semivowel /w/, so it is counted once.
This is a count of symbols a learner has to produce, not of phonemes. In native words, Brazilian [tʃ] and [dʒ] are what /t/ and /d/ become before an [i] sound, so a phonologist would call them variants of /t/ and /d/; they only act as separate phonemes in loanwords such as tchau. Phonemic vs phonetic transcription explains that difference, and why two dictionaries can write the same word two ways.
Every whole-word transcription below comes from a pronunciation lexicon IPAtics maintains, checked by hand. The entries chosen here leave stress unmarked, so where stress matters the text names the stressed syllable. The lexicon also writes the ch sound with a tie bar, t͡ʃ. That is the same sound as tʃ.
Oral vowels (8)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | lá | /la/ | a in father |
| /ɐ/ | atmosfera | /at͡ʃimosfɛɾɐ/ | u in strut |
| /ɛ/ | café | /kafɛ/ | e in well |
| /e/ | bebê | /bebe/ | ay in say, without the glide |
| /i/ | aqui | /aki/ | ee in see |
| /ɔ/ | avó | /avɔ/ | o in off |
| /o/ | avô | /avo/ | o in story |
| /u/ | tatu | /tatu/ | oo in cool |
/ɐ/ is the vowel of an unstressed final -a, like the last vowel of atmosfera. It also replaces /a/ in a stressed syllable before m, n or nh.
When a stressed e or o carries an accent, the accent tells you which vowel it is. An acute accent (é, ó) marks the open /ɛ/ and /ɔ/; a circumflex (ê, ô) marks the closed /e/ and /o/. That is the whole difference between avó (grandmother) and avô (grandfather).
Hold /e/ and /o/ steady. English say and go slide into a y or w sound at the end; Portuguese /e/ and /o/ are single vowels from start to finish.
Nasal vowels (5)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɐ̃/ | maçã | /masɐ̃/ | the nasal vowel of uh-huh |
| /ẽ/ | pensei | /pẽsej/ | none |
| /ĩ/ | sim | /sĩ/ | none |
| /õ/ | bom | /bõ/ | none |
| /ũ/ | um | /ũ/ | none |
A tilde (ã, õ) marks a nasal vowel, and so does an m or n at the end of a syllable. In bom, sim and um the m is not a consonant of its own: it tells you the vowel is nasal, and the lips do not need to close for it. Air goes out through the nose and the mouth at the same time.
Nasal vowels have no open and closed pairs. There is one nasal e and one nasal o, and both are the closed /e/ and /o/ said through the nose.
French has nasal vowels too. If you know them from our French IPA cheat sheet, note that Brazilian Portuguese has five instead of four, and adds nasal diphthongs on top.
Semivowels (4)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /j/ | pai | /paj/ | y in you |
| /w/ | céu | /sɛw/ | w in want |
| /j̃/ | mãe | /mɐ̃j̃/ | none |
| /w̃/ | pão | /pɐ̃w̃/ | none |
Semivowels are the second half of a diphthong. The nasal pair only appears in nasal diphthongs: -ão in pão and não, -ãe in mãe, and word-final -em, as in quem. So quem ends in a nasal vowel and a nasal glide, not in an m.
The semivowel /w/ also shows up where the spelling has an l. In most of Brazil an l at the end of a syllable is pronounced [w], so Brasil ends in [iw] and these two words sound the same:
| Example | Example in IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mal | /maw/ | badly |
| mau | /maw/ | bad |
Consonants (21)
| Symbol | Example | Example in IPA | Nearest English sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pé | /pɛ/ | p in spouse (no puff of air) |
| /b/ | boi | /boj/ | b in about |
| /t/ | até | /atɛ/ | t in stand, tongue on the teeth |
| /d/ | dá | /da/ | d in adapt, tongue on the teeth |
| /tʃ/ | grátis | /ɡɾat͡ʃis/ | ch in chip |
| /dʒ/ | pudim | /pud͡ʒĩ/ | j in jig |
| /k/ | quem | /kẽj̃/ | c in scan (no puff of air) |
| /ɡ/ | gol | /ɡow/ | g in again |
| /f/ | fé | /fɛ/ | f in face |
| /v/ | vi | /vi/ | v in vest |
| /s/ | sei | /sej/ | s in sack |
| /z/ | azul | /azuw/ | z in zebra |
| /ʃ/ | chá | /ʃa/ | sh in sheep |
| /ʒ/ | já | /ʒa/ | s in pleasure |
| /m/ | mel | /mɛw/ | m in might |
| /n/ | não | /nɐ̃w̃/ | n in unique |
| /ɲ/ | manhã | /mɐɲɐ̃/ | ny in canyon |
| /l/ | lei | /lej/ | l in look |
| /ʎ/ | milhão | /miʎɐ̃w̃/ | lli in million, as one sound |
| /ɾ/ | frio | /fɾiu/ | tt in American atom |
| /ʁ/ | rei | /ʁej/ | h in house |
nh and lh are single sounds. English canyon and million have an n or l followed by a separate y sound. Portuguese /ʎ/ is one sound, made with the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Brazilian nh is softer than Spanish ñ: the tongue often does not close completely, so it comes out as a nasal y, and the vowel in front of it turns nasal. The key does not write either detail.
/ʁ/ stands for a range of sounds. In most of Brazil this r is a voiceless sound made at the back of the mouth or in the throat, close to English h, which is why the key pairs it with house.
s at the end of a syllable depends on the region. Rio de Janeiro and much of the Northeast say it as [ʃ], so a Carioca's grátis ends in a sh. Many other Brazilians keep [s].
Stress and vowel reduction
Portuguese stress falls on one of the last three syllables, and the spelling tells you which:
- A word ending in -a, -e or -o (with or without a final -s), or in -am, -em or -ens, is stressed on the second-to-last syllable.
- A word with any other ending (-i, -u, -l, -r, -z, -im, -um, a nasal vowel) is stressed on the last syllable.
- A written accent overrides both rules, and every word stressed on the third-to-last syllable carries one.
| Example | Example in IPA | Stressed syllable | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| nervoso | /neʁvozu/ | vo | ends in -o |
| atmosfera | /at͡ʃimosfɛɾɐ/ | fe | ends in -a |
| azul | /azuw/ | zul | ends in -l |
| pudim | /pud͡ʒĩ/ | dim | ends in -im |
| café | /kafɛ/ | fé | the accent overrides the -e rule |
| útil | /ut͡ʃiw/ | ú | the accent overrides the -l rule |
Stress matters because Brazilian Portuguese reduces the vowels after it. In a final unstressed syllable, spelled -a is said [ɐ], spelled -e is said [i] and spelled -o is said [u], with or without a following -s:
| Example | Example in IPA | Spelled | Said |
|---|---|---|---|
| nervoso | /neʁvozu/ | final -o | [u] |
| frio | /fɾiu/ | final -o | [u] |
| absolutamente | /abisolutamẽt͡ʃi/ | final -e | [i] |
| atmosfera | /at͡ʃimosfɛɾɐ/ | final -a | [ɐ] |
The -e rule sets off a second change. Once a final -te or -de is said with [i], the t or d in front becomes [tʃ] or [dʒ]. Every adverb in -mente ends in [tʃi], and so do leite, noite and sete; cidade and tarde end in [dʒi].
Absolutamente and atmosfera show one more Brazilian habit: a short, unstressed [i] slipped between two consonants that Portuguese does not like to put side by side. Ab- becomes [abi] and at- becomes [atʃi]. Ritmo works the same way, which is why its transcription further down has an extra vowel.
The five sounds English speakers miss
Most of the chart maps onto English with small adjustments. These five do not: English either lacks the sound or uses it for something else, so they are the ones worth drilling first.
1. Nasal vowels
English nasalises a vowel only as a side effect of a following n or m, as in hand, and never uses nasality alone to tell two words apart. Portuguese does:
| Example | Example in IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lá | /la/ | there |
| lã | /lɐ̃/ | wool |
| pão | /pɐ̃w̃/ | bread |
Let the air through your nose for the whole vowel, and do not finish with a full n. Pão is two sounds after the p: a nasal vowel and a nasal glide.
2. The h-like r, /ʁ/
An r at the start of a word and a double rr between vowels are the h-like sound from the consonant table: rei is /ʁej/ and rio is /ʁiu/. That is why Rio sounds as if it starts with an h. An English r in these words is not a Brazilian sound at all.
3. The tap, /ɾ/
A single r between vowels, or after a consonant in the same syllable, is one quick flick of the tongue tip, the alveolar tap that Americans say for the tt in atom. Frio is /fɾiu/ and urubu is /uɾubu/. The two r's keep words apart: caro (expensive) has the tap, carro (car) has the h-like r.
At the end of a syllable, the r depends on where the speaker grew up. It is h-like in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Minas Gerais and the North and Northeast, a tap for many speakers in São Paulo city and the South, and an English-like r in the interior of São Paulo state and the areas around it, a pronunciation Brazilians associate with the rural caipira accent. The examples here use the h-like version: açúcar is /asukaʁ/. At the very end of a word, and above all in verb infinitives, many Brazilians drop the r altogether.
4. t and d before an i sound: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
In most of Brazil, t and d turn into the ch of chip and the j of jig when an [i] sound follows. Nothing in the spelling warns you:
| Example | Example in IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| grátis | /ɡɾat͡ʃis/ | free of charge |
| pudim | /pud͡ʒĩ/ | pudding |
| útil | /ut͡ʃiw/ | useful |
| ritmo | /ʁit͡ʃimu/ | rhythm |
The [i] can be a spelled i, a final -e said as [i], or the extra vowel from the section above. Before any other vowel, t and d stay plain: compare tatu and até in the tables.
5. Open and closed e and o
Stressed e and o each come in two qualities, and swapping them can change the word:
| Example | Example in IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| avó | /avɔ/ | grandmother |
| avô | /avo/ | grandfather |
English has vowels near the open /ɛ/ of bed, but its "ay" and "oh" glide, so the closed /e/ and /o/ need practice. Where there is no accent, the spelling does not tell you which one you have: bola (ball) has /ɔ/ and bolo (cake) has /o/. Learn the vowel with the word.
Convert your own text
A chart is most useful on words you actually need. Paste a Portuguese sentence into the Portuguese to IPA converter and look up each symbol in the tables above. Pay most attention to the endings: final -e and -o, t and d before [i], and the r's. Transcriptions differ on exactly those points from region to region, so check anything surprising against the rules on this page.
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