Português · Portuguese
Nasal vowels that carry meaning, and unstressed vowels that vanish.
Romance (Ibero-Romance) · compare with Spanish, Italian
Sounds
35 phonemes, 49 spelling rules. Trace any word letter by letter.
Words
610 concepts carry a Portuguese form. Switch Portuguese on at the top and browse any field.
Grammar
12 of 12 chapters written.
🎚️ What Portuguese does with pitch, stress and rhythm — the layer that isn't spelled.
Sound snapshot
European Portuguese is transcribed here, with Brazilian noted where it differs — and it differs a lot. Two things define the sound. First, nasal vowels: Portuguese has five, they are phonemic, and lá 'there' versus lã 'wool' turns on nothing else. Second, vowel reduction: unstressed e collapses to /ɨ/ and often disappears entirely, which is why Portugal sounds clipped and consonant-heavy while Brazil, which keeps its vowels open, sounds nothing like it. Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable by default; anything else carries an accent. s at the end of a syllable is /ʃ/ — the hiss that makes Lisbon recognisable.
Grammar chapters
Articles
the, a — definite and indefinite, and how they bend to gender and number.
Nouns & gender
Does the language sort nouns into classes, and can you guess which?
Plurals
How to make more than one.
Pronouns
I, you, he/she/it, we, they — subject, object, and the formal 'you'.
Present tense
Regular verbs now, and the handful of irregular ones you can't avoid.
Negation
Saying no: where the 'not' goes.
Questions
Yes/no questions and question words.
Word order
Where the verb goes, where adjectives go, what moves and why.
Past tenses
Finished vs ongoing, spoken vs written past.
Future & conditional
Will, going to, would.
Adjectives
Agreement, position, comparison.
Prepositions
In, on, at, to — the small words that never translate one-to-one.
Words by field
🏠Home
The house, room by room — the words you touch every day.
🌲Nature
Out of the city: landscapes, weather, creatures.
🧩Little words
Adverbs, prepositions, connectors — small words that carry the sentence.
🧱Essentials
The bedrock: numbers, yes and no — the words you need on day one.
🧰Trades & expertise
Jargon of people who do things with their hands — and their heads.
💭Concepts
Abstract words: feelings, ideas, character.
🧭Navigation
Finding your way: streets, junctions, the places you're heading for — and how to say you're lost.
🧑People
Who someone is: what they do, and what you call them.
🎬Actions
Everyday verbs, in the form that follows 'I want to…' — go, eat, buy, see, say.
🍽️Food
What's on the plate and in the cupboard — the staples first.
🫀The body
Head to ankle — the words you need at the doctor, the physio and the gym.
🥋Sport & fighting
The gym, the cage and the corner — built for fighters learning English.
🎭Register
The same idea said in the street, at the office, or in a textbook.