LinguaOne strong syllable, and the rest shrink
Every Portuguese word has one stressed syllable. In Portugal that vowel is said fully, and the others shrink – this is the sound of Lisbon. Unstressed e almost disappears: telefone sounds like “t’lfon’”, sete (seven) like “set’”. Unstressed o turns into u: obrigado sounds “obrigadu”, tudo “tudu”, livro “livru”. Unstressed a is short and dark, like the a of English “about”: the last a of casa. In Brazil these vowels stay much clearer, and that is a big part of why Lisbon and Rio sound so different.
| Vowel | Stressed | Unstressed, in Lisbon | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| E e | é, ê | almost silent; a short i at the start of a word | telefone, pequeno, sete |
| O o | ó, ô | like u | obrigado, tudo, livro |
| A a | á | short and dark, like the a of “about” | casa, cama |
Two e’s, two sounds. é with the rising acute is open, as in “bed”; ê with the little roof is closed, as in French “été”. Both marks are written last, above the e.
The same for o: ó with the acute is open, as in “not”; ô with the roof is closed, as in “go” without the glide. First the oval, then the mark.
| Word | Stressed vowel | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| avó | open ó | grandmother |
| avô | closed ô | grandfather |
| porta | open o | door |
| ovo | closed o | egg |
| olho | closed o | eye |
| olhos | open o | eyes |
| sede | closed e | thirst |
Obrigado, está tudo bem.Thanks, everything is fine.
O livro pequeno é da avó.The small book is Grandma’s.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| o telefone | telephone | O telefone está a tocar. The phone is ringing. |
| pequeno | small | O quarto é pequeno. The room is small. |
| sete | seven (7) | O comboio parte às sete. The train leaves at seven. |
| obrigado | thank you (said by a man) | Obrigado, até amanhã! Thanks, see you tomorrow! |
| tudo | everything | Está tudo bem? Is everything OK? |
| o livro | book | O livro é da escola. The book belongs to the school. |
| a casa | house, home | A casa é pequena. The house is small. |
| a avó | grandmother | A avó tem oitenta anos. Grandma is eighty. |
| o avô | grandfather | O avô lê o jornal. Grandpa reads the newspaper. |
| a porta | door | Fecha a porta, por favor. Close the door, please. |
| o ovo | egg | Como um ovo ao pequeno-almoço. I eat an egg for breakfast. |
| a sede | thirst | Tenho sede. I am thirsty. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- trace the letter: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
In Lisbon, the final o of obrigado sounds like which vowel?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.