Portuguese has a counterpart of the Spanish multiple trilled rr. For most Portuguese speakers, the trilling is produced in the back of the mouth with the uvula, rather than in the front of the mouth with the tongue tip. In the speech of many Brazilians, particularly from the Rio area, the sound is much like a slightly hoarse Spanish or English h sound with perhaps a bit of vocalization added. For others it more nearly resembles the voiced French r. Your best bet, of course, will be to imitate your native-speaking instructor.
The R appears where your Spanish experience would lead you to expect it. Check below and in Part IV, exercise 13.
(Roupa, Ruim)
(caRo, gaRafa)
(senhoR, comeR)
You should be particularly careful about this sound in familiar cognate words, a few of which are given below.
| Spanish | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| a. | |
| ropa | roupa |
| revista | revista |
| rápido | rápido |
| río | rio |
| repita | repita |
| razón | razão |
| b. | |
| carro | carro |
| arroz | arroz |
| corre | corre |
| guerra | guerra |
| torre | torre |
Page 23