7 Difficult Sounds to Pronounce in Brazilian Portuguese

In this post, I show you how to pronounce some tricky sounds in Brazilian Portuguese

The sentence below has 7 common Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation sounds that students often find difficult to pronounce. So let's look at those sounds individually to try and crack them!

A minha filha mais jovem não gosta de carros caros.

1. NH

It has the same sound as the n the English word onion. With that in mind try and pronounce the word vinho (wine).

vinho (wine)

2. LH

Think of the English word million and try and isolate the sound produced by the double-l. Now try and pronounce the Portuguese word coelho with that sound in mind.

coelho (rabbit)

3. EM

When a vowel is followed by the m at the end of words or before b and p, it creates a nasalized sound in Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation.

The closest in English would be the nasalized sound in words ending in -ng, such as sing and ginseng, but with -ng barely pronounced.

Because the m won't be pronounced as a separate sound, one thing you can do to help you achieve the nasalization is to try and not close your lips immediately - keep them apart and try and bring the air while pronouncing the vowel sound through your nose as well as your mouth. You can try and put your fingertips on your nose and you should feel a slight vibration if you're doing the sound right.

viagem (trip)

4. ÃO

The easiest way to achieve this sound is to initially think of it as two separate sounds:

the uh sound in the English word sun.
and the oom sound in zoom

Once you practised them separately, try and put them together as just one sound.

coração (heart)

5. Palatalization of the letter D

The palatalization of the letter d is extremely common in Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation. Instead of pronouncing like a hard d, you pronounce it like a dj sound. This happens before a phonetic [i] sound. This [i] sound - the same as in the English word me, will occur:

with the vowel i (always)
and with the unstressed vowel e, which will be mostly at the end of a word and in the prefix des-

cidade (city)

6. RR

Whenever a double R appears in a word, the sound you’re aiming at is the ‘h’ sound as it occurs in the English words happy, horse, house, etc. (or the Scottish ‘ch’ in Loch.) For Spanish speakers, the equivalent is the j at the beginning of a word, like José, jamón, etc.

carro (car)

7. R

The Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation of the single R can vary.

Beginning of a word: it has the same guttural sound as the RR we saw above.

relâmpago (lightning)

Middle of a word: As a general rule it is pronounced with a slight trill (or a light 'tap' of your tongue in the roof of your mouth) - if you can do a strong Scottish accent try and say the word great - that's the sound of the r you're aiming at.

prato (plate)

When the r is preceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant, in Rio it is very common for people to pronounce with the guttural sound as well - but that is not the standard Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation, it only applies to Cariocas!

porta (door)

End of a word: a) It's likely that it will be silent - you won't hear it at all. b) Sometimes pronounced with a light trill. c) And, again, in Rio it's dragged out a bit, pronounced with the guttural h sound in happy.

comer (to eat)

Categories: : Pronunciation