Portuguese Alphabet

El Alfabeto Portugués: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Z - K, W, Y

What’s up! You ok? Do you know the Portuguese alphabet pronunciation? We’ll learn it today and we’re also going to learn the  Portuguese alphabet sounds.

The Portuguese Alphabet

To begin with, let’s take a look at the Alphabet in Portuguese and we have an example each with a word! Check it out:

A/a Amor Love
B/b Bola Ball
C/c Casa House
D/d Dado Dice
E/e Escova Brush
F/f Faca Knife
G/g Garfo Fork
H/h Hospital Hospital
I/i Igreja Church
J/j  Jornal Newspaper
L/l  Livros Books
M/m Mala Suitcase
N/n  Navio Ship
O/o Óculos Glasses
P/p Peixe Fish
Q/q Queijo Cheese
 R/r Rato Mouse
 S/s Sapato Shoe
T/t Tomate Tomato
U/u Uva Grape
V/v Vassoura Broom
 X/x Xícara Cup
Z/z Zebra Zebra

Special Cases with C

Letter C has two different sounds that people use in Portuguese. With A, O and U, it has the /k/ sound, but when it is combined with E and I, we pronounce the /s/ sound. Let’s and understand the differences between them, take a look.

Examples

Casa House
Corpo Body
Cultura Culture
Cerveja Beer
Cidade City
Cem One hundred

 

The usage of Ç

This form is known as C-cedilha. When this form is combined with A, O, and U, it sounds like /s/ instead of /k/ originally. Let’s take a look at the examples and see how it works.

Examples

Cabeça Head
Preço Price
Açúcar Sugar

 

Special cases with G

This is another letter that has two possible sounds. When it is combined with A, O, U it has the original /g/ sound, but when it is combined with E and I, it has a /j/ sound, just like the letter J. Check out the examples.

Examples

Garfo Fork
Gostoso Tasteful
Gelo Ice
Gilberto Gilbert

 

Special Cases with K,W and Y

Well, the letters K, W and Y didn’t use to be part of the Portuguese language alphabet, they were used only for people’s name, words with an English origin, or acronyms. But they were officially included into our alphabet due to the frequency that people use them. Let’s see some examples with these letters:

Examples

Karla
Rock
William
Wilson
Yury
Yago

Different pronunciations of R

The letter R is more complex in Portuguese, because we have a lot of ways to saying it. It depends on where the letter is located in the word. To learn all its pronunciations, click here.

The usage of L

The letter L is not that hard, but depending on where it is in the syllable or word, its sound can change. Take a look.

Different pronunciations of X

This is tricky. Pronouncing the letter X correctly is an art. Want to master this art? Learn all the different pronunciations of the letter X.

The pronunciation of S

The letter S also has different ways of being pronounced. Let’s see the differences between them and how to pronounce each one.

Pronouncing the vowels in Portuguese

Now you know everything you need about the Portuguese alphabet sounds and some consonants. But did you know some vowels in Portuguese have more than one sound? Come learn all about it in our Dica about vowels! 

Our friend Moisés is going to help us out in the video below, to practice the Portuguese alphabet pronunciation .

Now that you know the Brazilian Portuguese Alphabet, it’s time to practice!

Exercise to practice the Portuguese alphabet

Listen to the sounds and complete with the correct letter.

1 – _ivros

2 – _arro

3 – _ornal

4 – _ato

5 – _esa

6 – _estido

7 – _luno

8 – _omem

9 – _rso

10 – _ogo

That’s it! We hope you’ve all liked our Dica about the Portuguese alphabet.

If you want to learn more Portuguese, you can subscribe at A Dica do Dia and receive lessons in your inbox for free.

You can also watch free Video Dicas on our Youtube channel. 

And, what’s the best way to learn? Having private classes with us! We can help you with whatever you need!

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See you!

Ler esta Dica em Português             Leer esta Dica en Español
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Sounds of vowels in Portuguese
Sound of L in Portuguese
How to pronounce R in Portuguese
How to pronounce X in Portuguese

 

Exercise about the Portuguese alphabet: answers

1 – Livros
2 – Carro
3 – Jornal
4 – Gato
5 – Mesa
6 – Vestido
7 – Aluno
8 – Homem
9 – Urso
10 – Fogo

 

 

 

This post is also available in: English Português (Portuguese) Español (Spanish)

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