Pronunciation Focus — Nasal Vowels and Key Sounds

Unit 1 introduces you to the sounds of Portuguese through a carefully programmed sequence. You will learn several nasal vowels, the unaspirated t, and the special sounds that make Portuguese distinct from other Romance languages. This is Brazilian Portuguese.

Nasal om

The first nasal vowel you’ll encounter sounds like a nasalized version of English “own” — but without pronouncing any m at the end, even though m appears in the spelling.

Portuguese	English
bom	good
som	sound
dom	gift; title (Dom)
com	with

Practice these words by mimicking the audio. The m in the spelling signals nasalization of the vowel — it is not pronounced as a consonant.

Two common names with this nasal vowel:

Name
Afonso
Alonso

Nasal im

A second nasal vowel, written with im or in. Again, there is no actual m or n consonant sound at the end.

Portuguese	English
sim	yes
mim	me (after prepositions)
vim	I came
lindo	beautiful (masculine)
linda	beautiful (feminine)

The name Linda contains this nasal vowel in its first syllable.

The Sound of dia

The d before i in Brazilian Portuguese is often pronounced like the English j in “jeep” (or dg in “fudge”). This is one of the most distinctive features of Brazilian speech.

Portuguese	Pronunciation Hint	English
dia	sounds like “jee-a”	day
bom dia	”bom jee-a”	good morning

Word Order: Está, sim

In Portuguese, the normal way to say “Yes, it is” places the verb before sim:

Portuguese	English
Está sim.	Yes, it is.
O dia está lindo.	The day is beautiful.
Está, sim.	Yes, it is (indeed).

Conversational Exchange 1

Portuguese	English
Bom dia.	Good morning.
Bom dia.	Good morning.
O dia está lindo.	The day is beautiful.
Está, sim.	Yes, it is.

The Unaspirated t

In English, the t at the beginning of a word is pronounced with a puff of air (put your hand in front of your mouth and say “too”). In Portuguese, the t has no puff of air — it sounds “cleaner.”

Practice these syllables without the puff of air:

Syllable		Syllable		Syllable
ta		to		tu

The word tudo (everything) uses this unaspirated t.

The em Diphthong

The word bem (well) contains a nasal diphthong that sounds roughly like nasalized English “-ay.” There is no m consonant at the end.

Portuguese	English
bem	well
Tudo bem?	Is everything okay?
Tudo bem.	Everything’s fine.

Conversational Exchange 2

Portuguese	English
Tudo bem?	Is everything okay?
Tudo bem.	Everything’s fine.

Syllable-Final e

At the end of a word or syllable, Portuguese e is often reduced to a short “ee” sound (like a quick English “ee”):

Portuguese	Reduced e	English
noite	”noy-chee”	night

The ch Sound in noite

Before the reduced i sound, the t in noite is pronounced like English “ch” in “cheese.” This is characteristic of Brazilian Portuguese.

Portuguese	Pronunciation Hint	English
noite	”noy-chee”	night
boa noite	”bo-a noy-chee”	good evening/night

The sh Sound in chovendo

The letters ch in Portuguese are pronounced like English “sh”:

Portuguese	Pronunciation Hint	English
chovendo	”sho-VEN-do”	raining
Está chovendo.	—	It’s raining.

The ão Diphthong in não

The nasal diphthong ão is one of the most distinctive sounds in Portuguese. It has no close English equivalent — it is a nasalized “ow” sound.

Portuguese	English
não	no; not
Não está chovendo.	It’s not raining.

Negation with não

The word não serves as both “no” (a standalone response) and “not” (placed before the verb to negate it).

Portuguese	English
Não.	No.
Não está chovendo.	It’s not raining.
Não está lindo.	It’s not beautiful.

Conversational Exchange 3

Portuguese	English
Boa noite.	Good evening.
Boa noite.	Good evening.
Está chovendo?	Is it raining?
Não, não está chovendo.	No, it’s not raining.

Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
bom / boa	good (m/f)
dia	day
noite	night
lindo / linda	beautiful (m/f)
sim	yes
não	no; not
tudo	everything
bem	well
com	with
está	is (temporary state)
chovendo	raining
Bom dia.	Good morning.
Boa noite.	Good evening.
Tudo bem?	Everything okay?
Está, sim.	Yes, it is.

Pronunciation I

Pronunciation & Topics

Course Material