Os Sons das Vogais

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Pronunciation Notes

Read this before doing the exercises. Try to say the examples out loud.

1. Final -e and -o don’t sound like "e" and "o"

At the end of a word, when -e and -o are unstressed (not the strong syllable), Brazilians pronounce them like [i] and [u] — even though the spelling doesn’t change.

Written	Sounds like	Written	Sounds like
leite	LAY-tchi	gato	GA-tu
tarde	TAR-dji	livro	LI-vru
noite	NOY-tchi	obrigado	o-bri-GA-du
gente	JEN-tchi	pássaro	PA-sa-ru

Good to know: this same rule applies to the little words o / os (the) and e (and) — they also sound like [u] and [i]!
o gato e os ratos sounds like u GA-tu i us HA-tus — "the cat and the rats".

Watch out for the exception: when the last syllable of the word carries a written accent (like é, ê, ó, ô), the vowel is stressed — and stressed vowels do not reduce. They keep their full, strong sound.
café, você, avô, avó, robô, bebê, jacaré — all of these end in a full, clear [e] or [o] sound, never [i] or [u]!

2. Vogais nasais — nasal vowels

When a vowel is followed by m, n, or nh, it becomes a nasal sound — the air passes through your nose, a bit like the "on" in the French word "bon". Portuguese has five nasal vowel sounds: ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ.

Sound	Examples
ã	campo, manhã, lâmpada
ẽ	tempo, venha, extremo
ĩ	lindo, vinho, assim
õ	compra, ponte, bom
ũ	mundo, unha, atum

Nasal vowels serve to distinguish words — it’s important to hear the difference:

Oral (no nasal sound)	Nasal
grade (fence)	grande (big)
mito (myth)	minto (I lie)
bode (goat)	bonde (tram)
mudo (mute)	mundo (world)

Good to know: the word-final spelling -ão (like in não, pão, coração) is also a nasal sound — it sounds like ãu, said through the nose.

3. The reduced diphthongs: ei → [e] and ou → [o]

Some vowel combinations (diphthongs) are simplified in everyday speech — the spelling keeps two letters, but Brazilians often say just one sound.

Pattern	Rule	Examples
ei	before j, r, x → sounds like [e]	beijo → BE-zhu, dinheiro → di-NHE-ru, brasileiro → bra-zi-LE-ru
ou	almost always → sounds like [o]	outro → O-tru, pouco → PO-ku, chegou → she-GO

Good to know: the spelling never changes! You still write dinheiro and pouco — only the pronunciation is simplified.

4. The little extra [i] sound

Brazilian Portuguese doesn’t like putting two consonants together with no vowel between them. So speakers often insert a light [i] sound to separate them.

Written	Sounds like
advogado	a-dji-vo-GA-du
admitir	a-dji-mi-TCHIR
observar	o-bi-ser-VAH
ritmo	HI-tchi-mu

The same thing happens at the beginning of words that start with es- or ex- + consonant — an [i] sound appears before the "s":

Written	Sounds like
escola	is-KO-la
estado	is-TA-du
exposição	is-po-zi-SÃU

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Exercises

Practice everything you just learned. Read each example aloud before answering.

🎙️ How to practice pronunciation with this material

This material is about sounds, so reading silently is not enough — your teacher needs to hear you. For every exercise marked with 🎙️, please:

1. Open your phone's voice memo app (or the microphone in WhatsApp) and record yourself reading the sentences or words out loud, slowly and clearly.
2. Listen to your own recording once before sending — do the nasal sounds and final vowels sound close to the examples?
3. Send the audio file to your teacher on WhatsApp, or attach it to an email, together with your written answers below. (This page cannot receive audio files directly.)

Tip: record the same sentence twice — once slowly, once at normal speed — so your teacher can hear how the sounds change with speed, and give you specific feedback on the patterns above.

Exercise 1 — Spot the exception 🎙️

Which word does NOT reduce?

In each group, two words follow the [i] / [u] reduction rule — but one word has a written accent on its last syllable, so it keeps the full vowel sound. Record yourself saying all three words in each group out loud, exaggerating the last vowel, then select the one that breaks the pattern. Send the audio to your teacher.

leite · café · sapato

você · gente · obrigado

livro · avô · noite

cedo · jacaré · tarde

bebê · pássaro · chefe

Exercise 2 — Nasal or oral? 🎙️

Click Nasal or Oral for each word.

Look for m, n, or nh right after a vowel. Record yourself saying each word aloud — can you feel the air going through your nose? Send the audio to your teacher along with your answers.

banana

casa

também

sapato

manhã

festa

bom dia

amiga

Exercise 3 — The little extra [i]

Which consonant pair gets the extra [i] sound?

In each word, click the two consonants that get a light [i] sound between them in fast speech.

advogado —

admitir —

observar —

ritmo —

Exercise 4 — ei → [e] or ou → [o]?

Type the simplified sound.

Write only e or o — the sound the diphthong reduces to.

dinheiro → di-nh-ru

pouco → p-ku

brasileiro → bra-zi-l-ru

outro → -tru

chegou → she-g

Exercise 5 — Read aloud 🎙️

Practice reading these sentences.

Record yourself reading each sentence: slowly first, then a bit faster, paying attention to the highlighted sound pattern. Send the audio file to your teacher along with this exercise sheet.

O gato e os ratos estão na cozinha.o → [u] · e → [i] · es- → [is]
Minha manhã começa com um pouco de café e pão.nasal vowels + ou → [o]
O advogado observou tudo com muito cuidado.extra [i] between consonants
O dinheiro do meu amigo brasileiro está no banco.ei → [e] before r
Ele é muito estudioso e sempre chega cedo.final -o → [u] · nasal em

Exercise 6 — Your turn 🎙️

Write and read your own sentences.

Write 3 sentences about yourself or your day. Try to include: (1) a word ending in unstressed -e or -o; (2) a nasal vowel word (with m, n, or nh); (3) a word with ei or ou. Then record yourself reading your 3 sentences aloud and send the audio together with your written answers.

Example: "Eu como pão de manhã. Meu irmão trabalha longe. Hoje eu cheguei cedo em casa."

Exercise 7 — Minimal pairs 🎙️

Shadow and record: oral vs. nasal.

These word pairs sound almost identical except for the nasal vowel. Say each pair slowly, exaggerating the nasal sound the second time. Record yourself saying all 4 pairs, then send the audio to your teacher.

grade (oral) → grande (nasal)fence → big
mito (oral) → minto (nasal)myth → I lie
bode (oral) → bonde (nasal)goat → tram
mudo (oral) → mundo (nasal)mute → world

Extra tip for your recording: stand in front of a mirror while you say the nasal words — you should barely open your mouth wider than for the oral version. The difference is in the airflow through your nose, not in your mouth shape.

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Os Sons das Vogais How Brazilians actually pronounce them

Pronunciation Notes

1. Final -e and -o don’t sound like "e" and "o"

2. Vogais nasais — nasal vowels

3. The reduced diphthongs: ei → [e] and ou → [o]

4. The little extra [i] sound

Exercises

🎙️ How to practice pronunciation with this material

Os Sons das Vogais
How Brazilians actually pronounce them