How many letters does the Portuguese alphabet have?

Twenty-six, like English, since the 1990 spelling agreement returned k, w and y. Accented letters and ç are not separate letters – in a dictionary á and ã are filed with a – but the marks are part of the spelling, and leaving one out is a mistake that can change the word.

What is the difference between á, â and ã?

The acute marks a stressed open vowel (já, café), the circumflex a stressed closed one (você, avô), and the tilde a nasal vowel, stressed or not (mãe, irmã, lições). Only the tilde changes the sound on its own; the other two also show where the stress falls.

Which Portuguese does the course teach?

Brazilian Portuguese, with the pronunciation, the vocabulary and the você of Brazil, and the spelling of the current agreement, the same in Brazil and in Portugal.

The Portuguese alphabet: 26 letters and their accents

The letters of English, five marks that change the sound – and the nasal vowels that make Portuguese sound like Portuguese.

Portuguese uses the twenty-six letters of English; k, w and y officially returned with the 1990 spelling agreement and appear mostly in names and loanwords (karaokê, show). On top of them come the marks: the acute accent (á é í ó ú) marks a stressed open vowel; the circumflex (â ê ô) a stressed closed one; the tilde (ã õ) a nasal vowel; the grave accent appears only on à, where two a’s merge; and the cedilla makes c sound like s before a, o and u (açúcar, almoço). The marks are spelling, not decoration: avó (grandmother) and avô (grandfather), e (and) and é (is), pais (parents) and país (country) are different words.

Several letters sound different from what an English speaker expects, and Brazilian Portuguese adds its own: h is always silent (hoje); lh and nh are single sounds, close to the lli of million and the ny of canyon (filho, vinho); ch is English sh (chave); j is the s of pleasure (janela); r at the start of a word and rr sound like an English h (Rio, carro); and in most of Brazil t and d before an i sound are said as ch and j (tia, dia). An unstressed e and o at the end of a word are usually heard as i and u (leite, carro), and ão is a nasal diphthong – the sound of não, pão and irmão.

Handwriting follows the same stroke order as English; the tilde, the cedilla and the accents are the only new movements. Tap a letter below to see it written and to trace it. The A0 level of the course covers the alphabet, the accents and the nasal vowels with audio, for free; A1 opens with greetings and the first verbs.

The chart

Tap a character to watch it being written and to trace it yourself.

Letters

Accents and ligatures

Learn the marks in pairs that change meaning: avó/avô, e/é, pais/país. The mark tells you where the stress falls and how the vowel sounds.
Practise the nasal sounds on words you will say every day: não, mãe, pão, bom, muito. Let the air through the nose, and do not add an n.
Read aloud with the Brazilian t and d: tia, dia, noite, cidade. Once your ear expects them, spoken Portuguese becomes much easier to follow.

The lessons that teach it

The A0 level of the course, free: the letters, their sounds and the first words, with the same stroke animations and tracing exercises.

The Portuguese Alphabet

Twenty-six letters you already know, the accents that change a word, and the ç.

Sounds and First Words

Nasal vowels, lh and nh, the two r sounds and the soft endings of Brazilian speech.

The whole course: Learn Portuguese together

Questions

How many letters does the Portuguese alphabet have?: Twenty-six, like English, since the 1990 spelling agreement returned k, w and y. Accented letters and ç are not separate letters – in a dictionary á and ã are filed with a – but the marks are part of the spelling, and leaving one out is a mistake that can change the word.
What is the difference between á, â and ã?: The acute marks a stressed open vowel (já, café), the circumflex a stressed closed one (você, avô), and the tilde a nasal vowel, stressed or not (mãe, irmã, lições). Only the tilde changes the sound on its own; the other two also show where the stress falls.
Which Portuguese does the course teach?: Brazilian Portuguese, with the pronunciation, the vocabulary and the você of Brazil, and the spelling of the current agreement, the same in Brazil and in Portugal.