Vowel Sounds

In this lesson, you will learn all vowel sounds produced by the 5 vowels used in Portuguese (A, E, I, O, U).

Oral vowel sounds

Oral vowels are produced with the air being released solely through the mouth, as opposed to nasal vowels which are produced with a simultaneous airflow through the nose and the mouth.

Open A - /a/

The open 'a' occurs in the English word ‘art.’

This sound occurs when the 'a' is in the stressed syllable of a word or if it contains the Portuguese accents ‘agudo’ (á) or ‘grave’(à).

• Olá (Hello)
• Tarde (Afternoon)
• Carro (Car)

Closed A - /ɐ/

The closed 'a' sound is similar to the ‘a’ in the word ‘America.’

• Adeus (Goodbye)
• Amigo (Friend)
• América (America)

Open E - /ɛ/

The open E sound occurs in the English word 'pet.'

• Até (Until)
• Eco (Echo)
• Café (Coffee)

Medium E - /e/

If the 'e' has a circumflex accent (ê), it means that the sound is medium. This sound occurs in the stressed syllable of a word.

The medium 'e' sound is similar to the sound of the ‘a’ in the English word ‘bay.’ However, it does not extend to the ‘y’ sound.

• Você (You - formal)
• Porquê? (Why?)
• Mesa (Table)

Closed/muted E - /ɨ/

This 'e' sound is almost mute. It occurs when the 'e' is unstressed, including most words that end in 'e.' It sounds like the final 'e' in the English word ‘the.’

• Tarde (Afternoon)
• Desculpe (I'm sorry - formal)
• Noite (Night)

I - /i/

The letter ‘i’ always has the same sound as in ‘beef’ and it is longer when stressed and shorter when unstressed.

• Bife (Beef)
• Cigarro (Cigarette)
• Dia (Day)

The letter E can also be read as /i/. For example, in the word ‘e’ (and) as in the phrase ‘dia e noite’ (day and night).

Open O - /ɔ/

This sound occurs in the English word ‘law.’

• Olá (Hello)
• Sorte (Luck)
• Avó (Grandmother)

Closed O - /o/

The closed O sound is similar to the ‘o’ in the English words ‘cold’ or ‘open.’ If the 'o' has a circumflex accent (ô), it means that’s where the stress of the word is and that the sound is medium.

• Avô (Grandfather)
• Obrigada (Thank you [if you’re a woman])
• Pôr (To put)

U - /u/

The letter 'u' always sounds like the double 'o' in the English word ‘boot.’

• Mulher (Woman)
• Minuto (Minute)
• Único (Unique)

In some situations, the letter ‘o’ has the sound U. This is how we pronounce the masculine definite article ‘o’ (the).

• Obrigado (Thank you [if you're a man])
• Tudo (Everything)

Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels are produced with a simultaneous airflow through the nose and the mouth. They have either a tilde (~), an M, or an N next to them in the same syllable.

Nasal A - /ɐ̃/

• Irmã (Sister)
• Planta (Plant)
• Ambulância (Ambulance)

Nasal E - /ẽ/

• Lento (Slow [masculine])
• Embaraço (Embarrassment)
• Centro (Center)

Nasal I - /ĩ/

• Sim (Yes)
• Interior (Interior)
• Importante (Important)

Nasal O - /õ/

• Bom (Good)
• Com (With)
• Longo (Long)

Nasal U - /ũ/

• Mundo (World)
• Atum (Tuna)

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are clusters of two vowels and are divided into two categories:

• Oral diphthongs, where the air is released through the mouth.
• Nasal diphthongs, where the air is released through the nose and the mouth.

Oral Diphthongs:

ai - /aj/ Pai (father)

au - /aw/ Pau (stick)

ei - /ej/ Sei (I know)

eu - /ew/ Pneu (tire)

iu -/iw/ Riu (he/she laughed)

ui - /uj/ Fui (I went)

ou - /ow/ Outro (another)

oi - /oj/ Foi (he/she went)

ói - /ɔj/ Dói (it hurts)

éi - /ɛj/ - Papéis (papers)

éu - /ɛw/ - Réu (defendant)

Nasal Diphthongs:

ãe - /ɐ̃j̃/: Mãe (mother). Note that the words that end in ‘-em’ such as bem’ (well) or ‘homem’ (man) have the same sound (bem-bɐ̃j, homem -ˈo.mɐ̃j).ão - /ɐ̃w̃/: Não (no)õe - /õj̃/: Põe (put)ui - /ũj̃/: Muito (a lot)