So, to summarize, you will always want to use the hard varieties of b, d and g in Portuguese, never the soft.
You will experience most of your trouble with easily recognizable cognate words. Below are a few samples.[^1] The Spanish spelling has been slightly altered to show the soft b, d and g sounds.
| Spanish | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| nada | nada |
| boda | boda |
| ida | ida |
| seda | sêda |
| mudar | mudar |
| formado (And many other such participial forms) |
formado |
| comido | comido |
| lobo | lôbo |
| Cuba | Cuba |
| saber | saber |
| sábado | sábado |
| caber | caber |
| entregar | entregar |
| pegar | pegar |
| digo | digo |
| pago | pago |
Some Spanish consonants have counterparts in Portuguese which, though similar, are different enough to warrant special attention. We treat them below.
[^1]: Extensive practice on b and d can be found in exercises 9 and 10, Part IV.
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