Portuguese: spelling → sound
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.
Trace a word
Every box is one rule firing. Hover a box (or open the table) to see why. Rules are applied in order, first match wins — that order is the spelling system.
Consonants & glides
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | p | pão pɐ̃w bread |
| b | b | boca ˈbokɐ mouth |
| t | t | tudo ˈtudu everything — Brazil palatalises it before i: /t͡ʃ/. |
| d | d | dedo ˈdedu finger — Brazil: /d͡ʒ/ before i — dia sounds like 'jee-a'. |
| k | c, qu, k | casa ˈkazɐ house |
| ɡ | g, gu | gato ˈɡatu cat |
| m | m | mão mɐ̃w hand |
| n | n | nada ˈnadɐ nothing |
| ɲ | nh | vinho ˈviɲu wine — Spanish writes this ñ, French gn, Portuguese nh. |
| f | f | falar fɐˈlaɾ to speak |
| v | v | verde ˈveɾdɨ green — A real v, unlike Spanish where b and v merged. |
| s | s, ss, ç, c | sol sɔl sun |
| z | z, s | casa ˈkazɐ house — s between vowels is /z/. |
| ʃ | x, ch, s (final) | chave ˈʃavɨ key — Also every syllable-final s: os livros = /uʒ ˈlivɾuʃ/. |
| ʒ | j, g | hoje ˈoʒɨ today |
| l | l | livro ˈlivɾu book |
| ʎ | lh | filho ˈfiʎu son |
| ɾ | r | caro ˈkaɾu expensive — One tap. |
| ʁ | rr, r- (initial) | carro ˈkaʁu car — Back in the throat, like French r. Brazil often makes it /h/. |
| j | i+vowel | pai paj father |
| w | u+vowel, o (in ão) | mau maw bad |
Vowels
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| i | i | vida ˈvidɐ life |
| e | e, ê | medo ˈmedu fear |
| ɛ | e, é | pé pɛ foot — Open e. The accent tells you which: pêlo vs pélo. |
| ɐ | a | cama ˈkɐmɐ bed — Unstressed a, and a before a nasal. |
| a | a, á | pá pa spade |
| ɔ | o, ó | avó ɐˈvɔ grandmother — avó /ɔ/ grandmother vs avô /o/ grandfather — one accent apart. |
| o | o, ô | avô ɐˈvo grandfather |
| u | u, o (final) | tudo ˈtudu everything — Unstressed final o is /u/ — always. |
| ɨ | e (unstressed) | pequeno pɨˈkenu small — The vowel that vanishes. Often deleted outright, which is why European Portuguese sounds like a run of consonants. |
| ɐ̃ | ã, an, am | lã lɐ̃ wool — lá 'there' vs lã 'wool' — the nasality is the whole difference. |
| ẽ | em, en | tempo ˈtẽpu time |
| ĩ | im, in | sim sĩ yes |
| õ | õ, om, on | bom bõ good |
| ũ | um, un | um ũ one, a |
The rules, in order
49 rules. The left column is a pattern (regular expression) matched at the current position of the word; (?=…) looks ahead, (?<=…) looks behind, $ is the end of the word.
| # | Pattern | Sound | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nh | nh = Spanish ñ | |
| 2 | lh | lh = Spanish ll, Italian gli | |
| 3 | ch | ch is /ʃ/, never /t͡ʃ/ as in Spanish | |
| 4 | ão | the commonest Portuguese ending — nasal a plus a w glide | |
| 5 | ãe | nasal a plus a y glide (mãe, pães) | |
| 6 | õe | nasal o plus a y glide (põe, lições) | |
| 7 | ã | ||
| 8 | õ | ||
| 9 | a[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | a + m/n at the end of a syllable nasalises the vowel and the consonant disappears | |
| 10 | e[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | em/en nasalise | |
| 11 | i[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | im/in nasalise | |
| 12 | o[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | om/on nasalise | |
| 13 | u[mn](?![aeiouáéíóúâêôh]) | um/un nasalise | |
| 14 | rr | double r is the throaty one | |
| 15 | (?<=^| )r | word-initial r is throaty too | |
| 16 | r | single r between vowels is one tap | |
| 17 | ss | ||
| 18 | ç | ç is always /s/ | |
| 19 | qu(?=[eié]) | qu before e/i: u is silent | |
| 20 | gu(?=[eié]) | gu before e/i: u is silent | |
| 21 | c(?=[eiéí]) | c before e/i | |
| 22 | c | ||
| 23 | g(?=[eiéí]) | g before e/i is the zh sound | |
| 24 | g | ||
| 25 | j | j is always /ʒ/, never Spanish /x/ | |
| 26 | x | x is usually /ʃ/ — but it is the least predictable letter in the language | |
| 27 | h | h is silent | |
| 28 | (?<=[aeiouáéíóúâêô])s(?=[aeiouáéíóúâêô]) | s between vowels is /z/ | |
| 29 | s(?=$| |[ptckfʃ]) | syllable-final s is /ʃ/ — the Lisbon hiss | |
| 30 | s | ||
| 31 | z(?=$| ) | final z is /ʃ/ too | |
| 32 | z | ||
| 33 | á | ||
| 34 | â | ||
| 35 | é | ||
| 36 | ê | ||
| 37 | í | ||
| 38 | ó | ||
| 39 | ô | ||
| 40 | ú | ||
| 41 | a(?=$| ) | final unstressed a reduces to /ɐ/ — casa is /ˈkazɐ/, not /kaza/ | |
| 42 | e(?=$| ) | final e reduces to /ɨ/ and is often dropped altogether | |
| 43 | o(?=$| ) | final o is always /u/ | |
| 44 | i(?=[aeouáéóú]) | i before another vowel becomes a glide | |
| 45 | u(?=[aeioáéíó]) | u before another vowel becomes a glide | |
| 46 | (?<=[aeoáéó])i | i after a vowel closes the diphthong (pai, sei) | |
| 47 | (?<=[aeoáéó])u | u after a vowel closes the diphthong (mau, meu) | |
| 48 | [aeiou] | ||
| 49 | [ptbdkɡmnfvlj] |