LinguaFour habits of Lisbon speech
With these four habits you can read most Portuguese words aloud the way Lisbon says them. The spelling tells you a lot, but not everything: it does not show every open or closed vowel, and most unstressed vowels shrink without any mark.
| Habit | What happens | Words |
|---|---|---|
| shrinking vowels | unstressed e almost vanishes, unstressed o becomes u | telefone, obrigado |
| nasal sounds | til, or m or n closing a syllable; final -em like ãe | pão, também |
| s like sh | s at the end of a syllable: sh, or zh before a voiced sound | três, mesmo |
| letter pairs | lh, nh, ch, rr, ss: one sound each | filho, vinho, chá |
Three characters, one ending: õ, e, s – the plural of many words in -ão, such as lição – lições. In Lisbon the final s sounds “sh”.
At the start of a sentence or a name, ch is written Ch – the sound stays “sh”: Chá, Chiado (a district of Lisbon).
Obrigado, também quero pão.Thanks, I would like some bread too.
Três chás, por favor.Three teas, please.
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. |
| obrigado | thank you (said by a man) | Obrigado, até amanhã! Thanks, see you tomorrow! |
| o pão | bread | O pão ainda está quente. The bread is still warm. |
| não | no; not | Não, obrigado. No, thank you. |
| também | also, too | Eu também quero! I want some too! |
| três | three (3) | Tenho três irmãos. I have three brothers. |
| o filho | son | O filho da Ana tem cinco anos. Ana’s son is five. |
| o vinho | wine | O vinho do Porto é doce. Port wine is sweet. |
| o chá | tea | Queres um chá? Would you like a tea? |
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 which word does s sound like sh?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.