The o and O are quite different and quite separate vowels in Portuguese. Here are several pairs of words which will illustrate this.
(as underlined)
| avô | (grandfather) | avó | (grandmother) |
| côro | (chorus) | coro | (I blush) |
| almoço | (lunch) | almoço | (I eat lunch) |
| gôsto | (taste) | gosto | (I like) |
| poço | (well) | posso | (I can) |
(see right column above for open O examples)
Just as you will have some trouble learning the distribution of e and E, so you will also have trouble learning the distribution of o and O. When is it one and when is it the other? Again, the answer seems to be: Take each word as it comes along, and learn it. Of course, your well-established habit of saying a closed Spanish o will tempt you to carry this sound over into Portuguese too, particularly in cognates. In the case of some cognates, you will be right, as these examples show.
| Spanish | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| gota | gôta |
| boca | bôca |
| mozo | môço |
| como | como |
| boba | boba |
| popular | popular |
| noticia | notícia |
But in the case of many other cognates you will have to switch to the open O, as the following examples show.
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