Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
N
is normally pronounced as in English, but when it's
followed by “h” it becomes “
ny
”. S o
sonho
(dream)
sounds like “SON-yoo”.
Q
always comes before “u” and is pronounced either
“
k
” or, more usually, “
kw
”. S o
cinquenta
(fifty) is
pronounced “sin-KWEN-ta”, but
quero
(I want) is
pronounced “KE-roo”.
R
is usually as in English. However, at the beginning
of a word it's pronounced like an English “
h
”. So “Rio”
is actually pronounced “HEE-oo”, and
rádio
(radio) is
pronounced “HA-djee-oo”.
RR
is always pronounced like an English “
h
”. S o
ferro
is
pronounced “FE-hoo”.
S
is normally pronounced like an English “
s
”, and in São
Paulo and the South this never changes. But in Rio
and many places to the north, “
s
” sounds like English
“
sh
” when it comes before a consonant and at the
end of a word (
estação
; “esh-ta-SOWNG”).
T
is normally pronounced as in English but, like “d”,
it changes before “i” and final “e”. So
sorte
(luck) is
pronounced “SOR-chee”, and the great hero of Brazilian
history, Tiradentes, is pronounced “chee-ra-DEN-chees”.
X
is pronounced like an English “
sh
” at the beginning
of a word, and elsewhere like an English “
x
” or “
z
”.
So
xadrez
(chess) is pronounced “sha-DREYZ”, while
exército
(army) is pronounced “e-ZER-si-too”.
Stress
Any word that has an accent of any kind, including a tilde, is stressed on that syllable,
so
miséria
(poverty) is pronounced “mi-ZE-ree-a”. If there is no accent, the following
rules generally apply (the syllables to be stressed are in capitals):
• Words that end with the vowels a, e and o are stressed on the penultimate syllable.
So
entre
(between) sounds like “EN-tree”, and
compro
(I buy) “KOM-proo”. This
also applies when these vowels are followed by -m, -s or -ns:
falam
is stressed
“FA-lowng”.
• Words that end with the vowels i and u are stressed on the final syllable:
abacaxi
(pineapple) is pronounced “a-ba-ka-ZEE”. This also applies when i and u are followed
by -m, -s or -ns, so
capim
is pronounced “ka-PEENG”.
• Words ending in consonants are usually stressed on the final syllable, eg
rapaz
(boy),
stressed “ha-PAZ”.
Some useful examples:
Rio de Janeiro
HEE-oo djee zha-NEY-roo
Belo Horizonte
BE-loo o-ri-ZON-chee
Rio Grande do Sul
HEE-oo GRAN-djee doo Soow
Recife
he-SEE-fee
rodoviária
ho-do-vee-A-ree-a
onde
(where) ON-djee
não entende
(he doesn't understand) now en-TEN-
djee
sim
(yes) SEENG (but hardly sound the final “g”)
ruim
(bad) hoo-WEENG (again hardly sound the “g”)
vinte
(twenty) VEEN-chee
correio
(post o
ce) co-HAY-oo
Brazilian Portuguese words and phrases
BASIC EXPRESSIONS
Yes, No
Sim, Não
Good, Bad
Bom, Ruim
Please
Por favor
Big, Small
Grande, Pequeno
Thank you
Obrigado (men)/
A little, A lot
Um pouco, Muito
Obrigada (women)
More, Less
Mais, Menos
Where, When
Onde, Quando
Another
Outro/a
What, How much
Que, Quanto
Today, Tomorrow
Hoje, Amanhã
This, These
Este
Yesterday
Ontem
That one, Those
Aquele
But
Mas (pronounced like
Now, Later
Agora, Mais tarde
“mice”)
Open, Closed
Aberto/a, Fechado/a
And
E (pronounced like “ee” in
Entrance, Exit
Entrada, Saída
“seek”)
Pull, Push
Puxe, Empurre
Something, Nothing
Alguma coisa, Nada
With, Without
Com, Sem
Sometimes
Ás vezes
For
Para
