A new, practical and easy method of learning the Portuguese language

1. The Alphabet.

The Portuguese Alphabet is composed of the 25 following letters:

There are six vowels: a, e, i, o, u and y, the rest are consonants.

2. The Accent.

The Portuguese language has several accents:

• the ʹ acute accent,
• the ^{^} circumflex accent,
• the ~ hyphen, called til, is set over some letters
• as a substitute for m, as:
• lã for lam
• bẽ for bem
• huã for huam.

3. The Vowels.

A 1. is pronounced like the a in the English word path, when it has the acute accent ´:

• chá, tea
• dá,  he gives
• lá,   there.

2. is it pronounced short and clear like the a in father:

capitão, the captain (first a),

or if found before the double consonants: cc, ll, mm, nn, pp, ss, tt, as:

• acclamar, to call out
• annullar, to annull
• alludir, to allude
• appellar, to appeal.

3. it has a soft and aspirated sound at the end of words if not accentuated: vergonha, the shame. If the hyphen ~ til stands over the a it takes a nasal sound:

• irmãa (pr. irmāng), the sister
• lã (pr. lāng), the world.

E has three sounds:

1. open but short like ai in the English word hail, when with the acute accent ´ as:

• pé, foot
• fé, belief
• sé,

or in:

• mel, honey
• he, he is
• quero (pr. kayro), I will,

or in those verbs ending in er:

• conhecer, to know
• receber, to receive.

2. long, when with the circumflex ^{^} over it, as:

• lê, he reads
• vê, he sees
• rêde, the net.

3. It is almost mute at the end of words without the accent, as:

• liberdade, liberty
• amizade, friendship.

I is pronounced like e in the English word me, and it is only the accent that determines the pronunciation, as:

• tímido,
• timoré,
• difficil,
• javalí.

O has three sounds:

1. clear and strong in:

• mólho,
• dó.

2. soft and long in:

• bôlo, cake
• gôrdo, fat
• rapôsa, the fox (fem.).

3. quite short, almost like oo in:

• poder, to be able
• molho, a bundle almost pronounced like
• molyou.

U is pronounced like the oo in the word wood, but the pronunciation depends much upon the length of the syllables, f. i. in túmulo, the grave, the first u is long, the second is short. If provided with the til ~ and before m and n it takes the nasal sound.

If it follows after g and q, it is either aspirated, or it is quite mute, as:

• guerra (gerrah), war
• quero (kayro), I will
• quieto (key-eh-to), quite.

In qual, it is slightly sounded to distinguish it from the Noun cal, the chalk.

Y is pronounced like the vowel I.

4. The Consonants.

B is pronounced like the English B.

C before a, o, u, l and r is pronounced like k, as:

• cavallo (kahvallo), the horse
• cravo (krahvo), the pink
• cuidado (kooeedado), the care.

• Before e and i it sounds like s, as:
• ceo (sayo), heaven
• cigarro (seegarro), cigar.
• If the c before a, o, u has a cedille (ç)
• it sounds like s, as:
• caça (kassah), chase
• aço (asso), the steel
• açucar (assookar), sugar.
• The double c, is distinctly heard only before e and i,
• the first sounds like k, the second like s, as:
• accidente (akseedente), the accident.

D is pronounced like the English.

Fdo.do.

G before a, o and a consonant is pronounced like the English g, as:

• gordo, fat
• gravo, grave.

g before e and i sounds like the j in the English word joy, as: general.

gua almost sounds like the English wa, as:  guarda, pr. gwarda.

H is only softly aspirated in few words, as:

• anhelar,
• hálito;
• otherwise it is mute, as:
• homem (omem), man
• hora (ora), hour.
• Many writers drop the h at the beginning
• and write um, uma,
• instead of: hum, huma.

J is pronounced like the English j.

K only occurs in foreign words and is pronounced like the English K.

L is pronounced like the English L.

M at the beginning of words, or between two vowels when it belongs to the second syllable, is pronounced like the English m, as:

• menino, child
• amar, to love.

• condição, condition
• bem (bang), well
• bom (bong), good.

N is pronounced like the English n, but has the same peculiarities as m.

P is pronounced as in English.

Q sounds like k, as: quero (kayro), I will.

R is pronounced as in English.

S is pronounced as in English; between two vowels it sounds like z.

T is pronounced like the English.

Vdo.do.

X has three sounds.

1. It sounds generally like sh, as:

• xarope (sharope), syrup
• enxaqueca (anshakeykah), headake.

2. After e it is pronounced like ks, as:

• extenção,
• extenuado,
• expulso,
• excellente.

3. Between two vowels it is pronounced like gz, as:

• exactamente,
• exornar,
• except in:
• paixão,
• puxo,
• Alexandre,
• baixo,
• and some other words, where it sounds like sh.

The x must be pronounced so softly that it is scarcely audible.

Z sounds like the English, as:

• zelo,
• zona.
•  
• At the end of words it sounds like s, as:
• rapaz,
• luz,
• voz.

5. Double Consonants.

The Portuguese language has the following double consonants:

Ch 1. is pronounced like the English ch, as:

• acho,
• chaga,
• marchar.

  2. it is pronounced like k in words derived from Latin or Greek, as:

• monarchia,
• archeo,
• archonte,
• Achilles.

Lh is pronounced like the ll in the English word “billiards” or in the French words “fille, bouilli”,as:

• mulher, woman
• mólho, the bundle.

Nh is pronounced like the French gn in “espagne, peigner”, as:

• ganho, I win
• banho, bath
• manha, trick.

Ph is pronounced like f, as: philosophia.

Rh and Th are pronounced like r and t.

6. The Diphthongs.

The Portuguese language has two kinds of diphthongs:   the pure, those which are distinctly pronounced, and the nasal diphthongs, pronounced with a nasal sound.

Pure Diphthongs.

• ae, as:
• taes,
• olivaes.
• ai (the a and i do not blend), as:
• pai (pa-i),
• ai (a-i).
• ao, as:
• páo (pa-o),
• máo (ma-o).
• au, as:
• aula,
• auto,
• pauta,
• causa.
• ei, ey, as:
• rei,
• rey,
• lei,
• sei.
• éi, as:
• papéis,
• réis.
• eo, as:
• deo,
• mordeo,
• viveo.
• éo, as:
• Céo,
• véo,
• réo.
• eu, as:
• eu,
• euro,
• meu,
• seu.
• io, as:
• pio,
• rio,
• vio,
• ouvio.
• oa, as:
• loa,
• toa.
• oe, as:
• heroe,
• dóe,
• róe.
• oi, as:
• boi.
• ôo, oo, as:
• vôo,
• sôo,
• môo.
• ou, as:
• ou,
• ouvir,
• douto.
• ui, uy, as:
• fui,
• Rui.
• In the above the first vowel is preeminent,
• in the following the second vowel has most emphasis.
• ea, as:
• lactea,
• área.
• eo, as:
• lacteo,
• arboreo.
• ia, as:
• gloria.
• oa (pron. oâ and oá), as:
• agoa,
• coadura,
• coalho.
• ui (pron. ui), as:
• quirinal,
• inquirir.
• uo (pron. uó), as:
• equoreo.
• uu (pron. uú), as:
• equuleo.

Nasal Diphthongs.

• ãa (bad orthography am or an), as:
• maçãa (mas-sang), apple,
• irmãa (ir-mang), sister.
• ãe (bad aem, aen), as:
• capitães (kapeeta-engs), captains,
• cães (ka-engs), dogs.
• am, as:
• amparo (ang-paro), protection.
• an, as:
• andar (ang-dar), to go.
• ão (bad orthogr. aõ, am, an), as:
• captião, captain.
• em, ẽe, ẽem, as:
• lem or lẽem (lay-eng), they read,
• bem, good.
• im, as:
• fim (fing), the end.
• õe (oem, oen), as:
• põe (pong-eng),
• nações (nahs-so-engs).
• om, as:
• bom (bong), good.
• um, un, as:
• mundo (moong-do), the world.
• The Portuguese have also syllables of three vowels such, as:
• eei,
• éio,
• eão,
• ião,
• as:
• eia, hallo!
• meia, half
• ideia, idea
• rodeão, they surround
• vivião, they lived.