The other day, I was talking to a couple of American friends who live in Brazil about how funny it is when Brazilians pronounce English words abrasileiradamente. Things like, Nothi-buqui (notebook – usually used for laptops), Amburgué (Hamburger), & Leenquédjeen (LinkedIn)… and much more. At work, I’m hounded all the time for saying words in English… in English.
But then I got to thinking… what about the other way around? Non-Portuguese speakers will all say things like, Havaeenas (Havaianas), Kiepee-reenias (Caipirinhas), and Coe-are-ow (Coração).
Every language has words that are especially hard for those of certain other countries to pronounce. One word that’s almost impossible for a Brazilian to say in English is “world”, because the “rl,” isn’t found in Portuguese. The same goes for English speakers who try to say anything in Portuguese that has an “ão,” and always comes out sounding like, “ow.”
What are some words you find difficult to pronounce in Portuguese? Even if English is not your first language, let me know what your native language is and what sounds are difficult for you! Send them my way via the comments and I’ll answer with pronunciation tips and quite possible some audio (woot-woot) later this week!
Happy Segunda-feira!
Comments:
Morris:
ão is really a hard-pronounce one.Does it have a same or similar sound in other languages ?++++++?
Ana Luíza:
@Morris Hi, Morris! I’m Brazilian, and I like studying other languages. I don’t believe that any other language has the sound of “ão”. Even latin languages, like Spanish, replace the “ão” by another sound. In Spanish, they replace by “on”. In English, they usually replace “ção” by “tion”. So, for non native speakers, it must be hard to pronounce.
Phil:
Thanks. Here we go.
lhe
Organização
Pão
The sound difference between ‘ão’ and ’em’ at the end of a verb
Divirtir-se
Vôo
There’s more but that’s a start.
Cheers
Ana Luíza:
@Phil Hi, Phil. I’m Brazilian, and I know hoje It’s hard for non native speakers to pronounce “ão”. I believe that when you said ‘sound difference between ‘ão’ and ’em’ on the end of the verb, you actually meant ‘ão’ and ‘am’. Don’t worry, even for Brazilians it’s hard sometimes. Try thinking like this: the verb ‘andar’ (to walk), on third person plural (they), past tense, is “andaram”. In future tende, It’s ‘andarão’. The difference between the sounds of each of them is that ‘ão’ is the stronger part of the word, so you say ‘andaRÃO’. But ‘am’ isn’t the strongest, so on the past tense you say ‘anDAram’.
Hope I helped
Jennifer:
Sometimes when I say pão, it comes out like pau, especially if I’m not thinking about it. Is it that I’m forgetting to add in the nasal sound?
mikajulia:
Let’s say- homem, estão,frequentemente,grisalha
Ed Hoos:
I’m just starting to learn and I’m having problems with (among other things) words in which the ‘r’ is placed next to a consonant in the middle such as ‘verde’. It’s hard to puff out that little ‘h’ sound without sounding ridiculous.
Tracy:
I have the worst time with the letter “R.”
Not so much at the beggining of a word, but I never get the sound right for words like porta, andar, Carvalho, etc. Rolling my “r”s is really hard for me, too.
BTW, great job on the blog! Parabéns pelo site!
Ana Luíza:
@Tracy Hi, Tracy. I’m Brazilian, and I like helping people learn Portuguese. Since Brazil is a big country, the “r” before another consoant is pronouced different ways depending on the location. In the South/ Southeast, this “r” is kinda pronounced like the “r” in Spanish, with a sound of “rrrrr”on the end ( I guess that’s what you meant by “rolling). For me It’s hard to speak that way. In Goiás, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, we speak the “r” the same way you do (I think). For example, “Carvalho”. The “car”, is pronouced the same way you say the word “car”, but not taking too long on the “r”. So it’s like “car”+”valho”. That’s a way easier and still correct way to say that “r”.
I hope I helped! ^*^
Ed:
The first Portuguese word that really gave me trouble was “quarteirões”. Took me at least a couple hours in class before I could get through it without stumbling.
I was raised speaking both English and German, and I studied Spanish for several years before starting Portuguese, so I think I had a lot less trouble than most!
polyana:
hey! good to see this is something we needed to touch upon for the blog. i’ll be sure to answer some, hopefully most, of your doubts towards the end of the week!!
beijos!
Carlos Deegan:
Coe-are-ow (Coração)? I see where legal in Brasil is pronounced “legow” but never have heard coração thusly. Don’t you mean cor-a-sow (nasalized)?
PS my blog (website) is: machimon.wordpress.com
Ed:
Carlos: The point was that *non-Portuguese speakers* may pronounce Coração incorrectly like that, because they don’t know or can’t pronounce nasalized vowels.
It’s like when I am in Rio and go to “Pão de Azucar” and I hear tourists asking for a ticket to “Pow de azz-ooker” 🙂
Steven:
I have trouble with some words with “lh” like trabalho and velho. I get confused about where my tongue goes.
Ana Luíza:
@Steven Hello, Steven. I’m Brazilian, and I know it must be hard to pronouce “lh”. It’s hard to explain, but for example, “trabalho”, you can pronounce the “lho” like “lee-o”, but make sure to not spend much time on the “ee”
Carlos:
“lh” problem: Simple, every time you see “lh”, substitutee “ly” as in vel.yo
Carlos:
A humorous note, in the first 6 months of living in Portugal I couldn’t find the word ões in my dictionary. I couldn’t even ask for “um maço de cigarros, se faça favor”
Older and wiser I know that ões is the equivalent of “tions” as motions. The singular of motion is moção. After 6 months I finally bought um maço of cigarettes: maço is pronounced masoo.
Jason Price:
I always have troube with the names of the airports in São Paulo – Congonhas and Guarulhos
Ana Luíza:
@Jason Price Hi, Jason. I’m Brazilian, and I know that pronouncing “nh” and “lh” must be hard. One tip: “Congonhas”, on the “nha”, you can pronounce like “nee-a”, but don’t spend too much time on the “ee”. Same thing with “Guarulhos”: “lhos”= “lee-os”, but pronouncing “ee” really fast.
Hope I helped
Rogério:
Hi. I’m very happy, because you, non-Portuguese speakers, are very interested in Portuguese languase as I like to study English and Portuguese. Parabéns pelo intercâmbio.
Roger Vandevert:
My native tongue is English and I always have trouble with, Olhe and Magalahaes! My wife laughs evrytime I try…
delia hoy:
i am going on holiday to alcabideche in portugal and do not know how to pronounce it, can anyone help, thanks
Dalila:
Hello, I’m brazilian, and I just can’t say “three”, it always sounds like “tree”. I can’t make the “th” sounds like “tf”, like my teacher say I should. It’s annoying… But I think that for English Speakers it’s hard to pronounce “lh” too!