cognates. In very careful, overly precise speech a Portuguese speaker may occasionally end words with the unstressed o and e sounds of his own language, but in normal, everyday speech he will always use u and i sounds, respectively, instead. These two features of Portuguese speech will be among the first to strike your ears. The frequency check presented below will indicate how often you will be required to focus on them.
(Spanish o / Portuguese u)
In Spanish the unstressed o sound marks many masculine nouns and their agreeing adjectives (carro, viejo, etc.) as well as the first person singular, present tense of most verbs (tengo, llevo, etc.) In Portuguese, these functions are taken over by the unstressed u sound (which, nonetheless, is written o in standard spelling). Observe the change in the examples shown below, all cognates. We have altered the standard Portuguese spelling to emphasize the presence of the u sound.
| Spanish | Portuguese | |
|---|---|---|
| Nouns: | ||
| carro | carru | |
| centro | centru | |
| estados | estaduș | |
| libros | livruș | |
| Adjectives: | ||
| cuatro | quatrų | |
| famoso | famosu | |
| bonitos | bonituș | |
| caros | caruș |
Page 5