Inevitably some interference will arise out of the necessity of accommodating two vowel sounds in an area where you are used to dealing with only one. This will be a problem in the case of brand new, non-cognate words. It will be even more of a problem in the case of cognates. Many Spanish words with e (which we may consider closed) will show up in Portuguese with the open E. Among these are Spanish words ending in stressed -el.
| Spanish | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| papel | papEl |
| pincel | pincEl |
| hotel | hotEl |
In most cases, though, you will find it difficult to predict whether you will find an e or an E in the Portuguese word. Check these examples:
| Spanish closed e | Portuguese closed e | Portuguese open E |
|---|---|---|
| pelo | pelo | |
| mesa | mesa | |
| pena | pena | |
| pelar | pelar | |
| tenaz | tenaz | |
| menos | menos | |
| mero | mEro | |
| sede | sEde | |
| bella | bEla | |
| fe | fÉ | |
| ella | Ela | |
| es | É | |
| cero | zEro | |
| flecha | flEcha |
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