1:0.0/// Pronunciation Guide to Portuguese or the zeroth lesson

Portuguese is a very phonetic language meaning that there are only a few rules regarding pronunciation, that is if you can say a word you can spell a word and vice versa.  None of this going to the dictionary or relying on spell checker. This boon for the language learning is actually a result of a historical accident, when the monarchy ended in 1910 only about 10% of the population of Portugal could read, and I am not sure if that means functionally literate or could they at least puzzle through the symbols on the page. One of the priorities of the government was to make teaching writing and reading easier.  As such, spelling variations were harmonized so the f sound in Pharmacia (Pharmacy) became Farmácia and they added the accent to tell you which vowel to stress.

For the most part the sounds of Portuguese and English overlap nicely, but Portuguese has the nasal sound which does not exist in English, or the closest approximation is the "n" in onion. If you are already familiar Spanish there is also a bit a nasal quality in some words. For the most part the easiest way to pick it up is not to worry too much about it. After all context will tell the listener if you want bread (pão) versus a stick (pau). Just understand that it will take your brain about a month of intensive listening practice to hear the difference between those two words. A visual cue though involves two mirrors or a finger. Stand in front of the bathroom mirror with a small hand mirror below your nose (any reflective surface will do). Then say pau (pow), there should be little to no fog on the mirror below your nose. Then say pão, the mirror should fog as some air escapes from your nose. I recommend doing this in the privacy of the bathroom because 1) it could be embarrassing if you cannot fog the mirror and are therefore dead or 2) you are trying to force more air than normal out of your nose.

European Portuguese Pronunciation - unstressed vowels, vowels without accent marks or not located in the accented syllable
Symbol	English Equivalent	Portuguese Example	Transliteration
a	The ‘a’ in among [ah]	maçã	ma_sang
e	The 'e' in "get" [eh]	chávena	shaa_ve_na
i	The 'ee' in "week" [ee]	cliente	klee_eng_te
o	The 'o' in "open" [oh]	gato	Ga_toh
u	The ‘oo’ in book	museu	moo_ze_oo

Vowels - Stressed
a
e
i
o
u
Dipthongs
ai
ae

European Portuguese Pronunciation - consonants
Symbol	English Equivalent	Portuguese Example	Transliteration
b	bed	beber	be_ber
d	dog	dedo	de_doo
f	fit	faca	faa_ka
g	gap	gasolina	ga_zoo_lee_na
k	kit	cama	ka_ma
l	let	lixo	lee_shoo
ly	million	muralhas	moo_raa_lyash
m	mat	macaco	ma_kaa_koo
n	no	nada	naa_da
ng	Sing This is the nasal vowel. English does not differentiate between nasal and non-nasal vowels.	Ambos Uns amanhã	Ang_boosh Oongsh aa_ma_nyang
ny	canyon	linha	lee_nya
p	pin	padre	paa_dre
r	Like ‘tt’ in ‘butter	hora	o_ra
rr	As in French ‘croissant’	relva	rrel_va
s	sad	criança	kree_ang_sa
sh	shut	chave	shaa_ve
t	top	tacho	taa_shoo
v	very	vago	vaa_goo
w	water	água	aa_gwa
y	yes	edifício	ee_dee_fee_syoo
z	zoo	camisa	ka_mee_za
zh	pleasure	cerveja	serr_ve_zha
h	herb	hora	Unpronounced in Portuguese

k - kappa, it is from words outside of Portuguese, the sound is transliterated as qui or a hard c
n - really the same sound as m
y - epsilon only in loan words
Changing constants
c is like s when it is followed by "i" or "e"
g (ga, go, gu or gi + ge)
s starting a word is s as in snake
s surrounded by vowels is z
s followed by another constant is sh
s followed by itself is s as in snake
r at the beginning of a word has a gutteral quality or breathy
r in the middle is lighter
rr is gutteral
lh
nh
Tilde - indicates nasal
ã
õ
â
ô
à or á indicates a stressed a, this sound is the same.  The à indicates a contraction of the article a before a feminine noun plus the preposition a.
Stress rules

Portuguese pronunciation

Vowel stress determines vowel sound.
There are no silent vowels, but their are dipthongs

The stress rules are encapsulated in the following two rules:
1) AWESOME rule, words ending in a, e, s, o, and m have the stress on the second to last syllable.

senhora

cerveja

remetente

lençois
escrito
posso
homem
bagagem

2) I RULE - words ending in i, r, u, or l have the stress on the last syllable
senhor
lençol