The Portuguese alphabet has 26 letters, the same set as English. K, W and Y officially returned with the 1990 Spelling Agreement, in force in Brazil since 2009. Below is every letter with its Brazilian name, IPA, an English-style respelling and a synthesized BR-PT audio clip, followed by the letters that don't sound the way an English speaker expects, the digraphs, the accent marks, and how to spell your name aloud at a bank, a doctor's office or the Polícia Federal.
Want to hear your own name spelled out? Type it below — the page spells it letter by letter and shows the pronunciation.
Brazilian Portuguese alphabet chart with pronunciation audio
Each card shows the letter, its Brazilian name, the name in IPA with a rough English respelling, and an example word. Tap the speaker next to the letter to hear its name, and the one next to the word to hear the letter inside a real word.
Aa
á
[a] · "ah"
amigo— friend
Bb
bê
[be] · "bay"
bola— ball
Cc
cê
[se] · "say"
casa— house
Dd
dê
[de] · "day"
dia— day
Ee
é
[ɛ] · "eh"
ela— she
Ff
efe
[ˈɛfi] · "EF-ee"
família— family
Gg
gê
[ʒe] · "zhay"
gato— cat
Hh
agá
[aˈɡa] · "ah-GAH"
hoje— today
Ii
i
[i] · "ee"
ilha— island
Jj
jota
[ˈʒɔtɐ] · "ZHAW-tah"
janela— window
Kk
cá
[ka] · "kah"
karatê— karate
Ll
ele
[ˈɛli] · "EL-ee"
livro— book
Mm
eme
[ˈẽmi] · "AY-mee"
mãe— mother
Nn
ene
[ˈẽni] · "AY-nee"
noite— night
Oo
ó
[ɔ] · "aw"
olho— eye
Pp
pê
[pe] · "pay"
pão— bread
Qq
quê
[ke] · "kay"
queijo— cheese
Rr
erre
[ˈɛʁi] · "EH-hee"
rua— street
Ss
esse
[ˈɛsi] · "ES-ee"
sol— sun
Tt
tê
[te] · "tay"
tudo— everything
Uu
u
[u] · "oo"
uva— grape
Vv
vê
[ve] · "vay"
você— you
Ww
dáblio
[ˈdabliu] · "DAH-blee-oo"
wi-fi— wifi
Xx
xis
[ʃis] · "sheess"
xícara— cup
Yy
ípsilon
[ˈipsilõ] · "EEP-see-lohn"
yoga— yoga
Zz
zê
[ze] · "zay"
zero— zero
Vowels are named by their own sound: á, é, i, ó, u — and the E and O names are open, like the vowels in "bed" and "law". Most consonants follow one of two patterns: consonant + "ay" (bê, cê, dê, gê, pê, quê, tê, vê, zê) or "eh" + consonant + "ee" (efe, ele, eme, ene, erre, esse); agá, jota, cá, dáblio, xis and ípsilon are one-offs. The respellings are approximations: the Portuguese vowel in bê is a pure [e] with no "y" glide at the end, so say "bay" short and flat.
Accepted variants. The Spelling Agreement itself says these names are suggestions, not the only correct ones. It also allows "guê" for G and "capa" for K, the usual names in Portugal; Brazilians say gê and cá. W is written both dáblio and dábliu, and for Y you will also hear "ipsilone" and "i grego". In parts of the Northeast, especially Bahia, older names such as fê, lê, mê, nê and rê are still in use.
Where K, W and Y appear. The rules reserve them for foreign names and words derived from them (Kafka; Darwin → darwinismo; Kuwait) and for symbols and units: km, kg, kW. Everyday loanwords use them too: wi-fi, yoga, karatê.
Why some sources say 23 letters. Before the agreement, Brazilian spelling rules listed 23 core letters and treated K, W and Y as special-use letters. Ç and digraphs such as ch or lh were never counted as separate letters, then or now.
Letters that don't sound like English
Most letters behave predictably, but a few rules break the habit of reading Portuguese the English way. This is the short version; every rule is covered in depth in our Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation guide.
C and Ç. Before a, o, u, c is a "k"; before e and i, it is an "s". Ç (cê-cedilha) is always "s" and only appears before a, o, u.
H at the start of a word is silent: hoje is "OH-zhee".
hoje[ˈoʒi]— todayhotel[oˈtɛw]— hotelhomem[ˈõmẽj̃]— man
R. At the start of a word and as rr, it is a breathy sound close to English "h". A single r between vowels is a quick tap, like the "tt" in American "better". That's why caro ("expensive") and carro ("car") are different words, and why the letter name erre sounds like "EH-hee".
qu and gu. Before e and i, the u is usually silent: queijo is "KAY-zhoo", guitarra is "gee-TAH-hah". Before a and o, it is pronounced: quando is "KWAN-doo", água is "AH-gwah".
queijo[ˈkejʒu]— cheeseaqui[aˈki]— herequando[ˈkwɐ̃du]— whenquatro[ˈkwatɾu]— fourguitarra[giˈtaʁɐ]— electric guitarágua[ˈagwɐ]— water
Until 2009, a pronounced u before e or i carried a diaeresis (lingüiça, cinqüenta). The agreement abolished it, so the spelling no longer shows it: hear these words once and the sound sticks.
Accent marks don't create new letters: á is still an a, just stressed. They do change how a word is read, and you name them aloud when you spell.
´acento agudo
The acute accent marks the stressed syllable; on e and o it also means the open sound, as in "bed" and "law". Avó means grandmother.
café[kaˈfɛ]— coffeeavó[aˈvɔ]— grandmothermúsica[ˈmuzikɐ]— music
^acento circunflexo
The circumflex also marks stress, but on a closed vowel: ê as in "they" without the glide, ô as in "go" without the glide. Avô means grandfather; in writing only the mark tells avó and avô apart.
você[voˈse]— youavô[aˈvo]— grandfatherônibus[ˈõnibus]— bus
~til
The tilde on a or o makes the vowel nasal: mãe, pão, and õ in forms like põe and lições.
The grave accent only appears on a (à, às, àquele), where it marks the preposition a merging with the article a: vou à praia, "I'm going to the beach". It doesn't change the sound. Strictly, the sign is the acento grave and crase is the merger, but Brazilians say "a com crase".
çcê-cedilha
The cedilla makes c an "s" before a, o, u. A word never starts with ç.
coração[koɾaˈsɐ̃w̃]— heartalmoço[awˈmosu]— lunchmaçã[maˈsɐ̃]— apple
When spelling aloud, Brazilians say "é com acento agudo", "ô com circunflexo", "a com til", "a com crase", "com cê-cedilha", or just "com acento" and let the other person ask which one.
Nasal vowels and other sounds the alphabet doesn't show
The letter chart doesn't show every sound. Nasal vowels, open and closed e and o, diphthongs that shrink in speech and unmarked stress all live between the letters, and they are what trips people up when reading aloud. Here is what you need beyond the letter names.
The tilde and the nasal diphthongs: -ão, -ãe, -õe
The vowel under a tilde is nasal, followed by a short “w” or “y” glide: -ão is a nasal “ow” (mão, pão), -ãe and -ães a nasal “eye” (mãe, pães), -õe and -ões a nasal “oy” (põe, lições). There is no real n at the end, so don’t say “mown”. In the plural, -ão becomes -ões, -ães or -ãos (lições, pães, mãos), and nothing in the word tells you which: learn the plural with it.
Unstressed -am in verbs sounds like -ão, just without the stress: falam [ˈfalɐ̃w̃]. -em and -ém are a nasal “ay”: bem, também, homem. -ens is the same plus s: homens, jovens. Your lips never close at the end: the m only marks the vowel as nasal.
bem[ˈbẽj̃]— welltambém[tɐ̃ˈbẽj̃]— alsohomem[ˈõmẽj̃]— man
M and N after a vowel: the vowel goes nasal
When m or n closes a syllable, the vowel before it turns nasal and the consonant itself is barely heard: campo, mundo, bom, um, assim. Before p and b the spelling is m (campo, também), before other consonants n (mundo, ponte). Between vowels m and n are full consonants (ano, cama), though in Brazil the vowel before them is slightly nasal too.
campo[ˈkɐ̃pu]— fieldmundo[ˈmũdu]— worldbom[ˈbõ]— goodum[ˈũ]— one
Open and closed e and o without an accent mark
An accent mark tells you the vowel quality only where it appears: é and ó are open (café, avó), ê and ô closed (você, avô). Without a mark, a stressed e or o can be either: ela has the open e of “bed”, ele a closed one; bola and sol have the open o of “law”, boca and todo a closed one, like the “o” in “go” without the glide. There is no rule, so learn the vowel with the word. One pattern helps: in sets like novo – nova – novos the o opens in the feminine and the plural, and the same goes for olho – olhos.
Open
ela[ˈɛlɐ]— shebola[ˈbɔlɐ]— ballsol[ˈsɔw]— sun
Closed
ele[ˈeli]— heboca[ˈbokɐ]— mouthtodo[ˈtodu]— whole
Unstressed vowels and the small words
An unstressed e at the start of a word, before s, usually sounds like “ee”: escola [isˈkɔlɐ], esperar [ispeˈɾaʁ]. The small words follow the same rules: e (“and”) is “ee”, the articles o and os are “oo” and “oos”, que is “kee”, and de is “jee” (or “dee” where d doesn’t soften before an “ee”). So o carro e a casa comes out roughly as [u ˈkahu i a ˈkazɐ].
escola[isˈkɔlɐ]— schoolesperar[ispeˈɾaʁ]— to wait
The diphthongs ou, ei and ai in everyday speech
ou is almost always a single closed “o”: pouco [ˈpoku], outro [ˈotɾu]. ei before r, j and x, and ai before x, often lose the glide: primeiro [pɾiˈmeɾu], beijo [ˈbeʒu], peixe [ˈpeʃi], caixa [ˈkaʃɐ]. At the end of a word (sei, sai) and in words like reitor the glide stays. The spelling always keeps the diphthong.
pouco[ˈpoku]— littlepeixe[ˈpejʃi ~ ˈpeʃi]— fishprimeiro[pɾiˈmejɾu ~ pɾiˈmeɾu]— first
S at the end of a syllable and between words
At the end of a syllable, s is an “s” before voiceless consonants (festa) and a “z” before voiced ones: mesmo [ˈmezmu], turismo [tuˈɾizmu]. Before a vowel in the next word, a final s also becomes “z”: os amigos [uz aˈmiɡus], dois anos [ˈdojz ˈɐ̃nus]. In Rio and a few other cities a syllable-final s becomes “sh” or the “s” of “measure” instead (see the regional section), but before a vowel it is a “z” there too.
mesmo[ˈmezmu]— sameturismo[tuˈɾizmu]— tourism
When x is safely “sh”, “z” or “s”
There is no general rule for x, but a few patterns are reliable. After a diphthong, x is almost always “sh”: caixa, peixe, deixar (exceptions with “s”, such as auxílio and trouxe, are rare). After an initial en- it is “sh” too: enxada, enxergar. The prefix ex- before a vowel usually gives “z”: exemplo, exame; before a consonant it gives “s”: texto, explicar (“sh” in Rio).
deixar[dejˈʃaʁ]— to leaveexemplo[eˈzẽplu]— exampletexto[ˈtestu]— text
sc, sç and xc: a single “s”
sc before e and i, sç before a and o, and xc before e and i are all read as a single “s”: nascer [naˈseʁ], piscina [piˈsinɐ], nasço [ˈnasu], exceção [eseˈsɐ̃w̃]. They are digraphs just like ss; alphabet charts rarely show them.
nascer[naˈseʁ]— to be bornpiscina[piˈsĩnɐ]— swimming poolexceção[eseˈsɐ̃w̃]— exception
The invisible “ee” between consonants
Where consonants meet that Portuguese doesn’t normally put side by side (dv in advogado, pn in pneu, tm in ritmo), Brazilians often slip in a short “ee”: advogado [adʒivoˈɡadu], pneu [piˈnew], ritmo [ˈhitʃimu]. Before that “ee”, d and t turn into “j” and “ch” as usual. In a lab study of speakers from Florianópolis, the extra vowel turned up in about three cases out of four.
Where the stress falls when there is no accent mark
Words ending in -a, -e, -o (with or without -s) and in -am, -em, -ens are stressed on the next-to-last syllable: casa, nome, falam, homem. Words ending in -i, -u, -l, -r, -z, -x, -im, -om, -um, in nasal -ã and -ão, or in a diphthong are stressed on the last one: aqui, Brasil, falar, feliz, comum, irmã, feijão. Anything that breaks these rules gets an accent mark: café, você, música, fácil.
casa[ˈkazɐ]— housefeliz[feˈlis]— happyaqui[aˈki]— here
How it sounds in Rio, São Paulo, the Northeast and the South
The transcriptions in this guide show one way of saying each word. Brazil is big, though, and a handful of sounds change noticeably from city to city. Below are eight of them, with where each variant is heard according to the Linguistic Atlas of Brazil (Atlas Linguístico do Brasil, ALiB) and studies of individual cities. These are tendencies, not borders: one city often has both variants, and neither is a mistake.
S and Z at the end of a syllable: “s” or “sh”
festa— partydois— two
Rio de Janeiro, Belém, Florianópolis
festa[ˈfɛʃtɐ]dois[ˈdojʃ]
Almost always “sh”, at the end of a word too. Before a voiced consonant it turns into the “s” of “measure”: mesmo [ˈmeʒmu].
Recife, Salvador, Manaus, Macapá, Cuiabá
festa[ˈfɛʃtɐ]dois[ˈdojʃ ~ ˈdojs]
Mostly “sh” as well, but less consistently than in Rio: you will hear both.
João Pessoa, Natal, Maceió
festa[ˈfɛʃtɐ]dois[ˈdojs]
Inside a word you hear both, with “sh” mostly before t and d: in João Pessoa it is almost always “sh” there and almost never before other consonants. At the end of a word, usually “s”. In mesmo and desde the s is often just a breath: [ˈmehmu].
São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Porto Alegre
festa[ˈfɛstɐ]dois[ˈdojs]
Usually “s”, and “z” before a voiced consonant: mesmo [ˈmezmu]. Most of the Center-West sounds the same, except Cuiabá.
Pick one for your own speech; either is understood everywhere. Just remember that a Rio speaker’s final “sh” is the same s, not a different word.
R at the end of a syllable: “h”, a tap or an “American” r
porta— doormar— sea
Rio de Janeiro, Vitória, Florianópolis and the state capitals of the North and Northeast
porta[ˈpɔhtɐ]mar[ˈmah]
A voiceless sound, anywhere from a soft “h” to a raspy “kh” as in Scottish “loch”. In Belo Horizonte it is usually a light “h”, though other variants are heard there too.
The city of São Paulo
porta[ˈpɔɾtɐ]mar[ˈmaɾ]
Most often a tap, like the “tt” in American “better”. The inland “American” r is common too.
Inland São Paulo and Paraná, southern and western Minas Gerais, the Center-West (Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Goiânia)
porta[ˈpɔɻtɐ]mar[ˈmaɻ]
The famous “r caipira”: the tongue tip curls back, much like the r in American “car”. In Cuiabá and Campo Grande it is nearly the only variant.
Porto Alegre, Curitiba
porta[ˈpɔɾtɐ]mar[ˈmaɾ]
Usually a tap, sometimes the “American” r. Florianópolis is the exception, with Rio’s “h”.
In infinitives the final r is usually dropped altogether: falar [faˈla], comer [koˈme]. In the ALiB atlas data from the state capitals, almost three infinitives in four lose it.
R at the start of a word and rr: “h” or a rolled r
rato— ratcarro— car
Nearly all of Brazil, Rio, São Paulo and Porto Alegre included
rato[ˈhatu]carro[ˈkahu]
A breathy sound from the throat, from a light “h” to a raspy “kh”.
Parts of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, mostly older speakers and communities of Italian and German descent
rato[ˈratu]carro[ˈkaru]
A rolled r, as in Spanish or Italian. In some of these communities rr is even a single tap, so carro sounds like caro.
Even in Porto Alegre the rolled r has become rare, almost entirely replaced by the “h”. Use the “h” yourself, and caro and carro will never merge.
D and T before an “ee” sound: “jee/chee” or “dee/tee”
dia— daytia— auntleite— milk
Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Vitória, Porto Alegre, Fortaleza, São Luís, Belém and most other state capitals
dia[ˈdʒiɐ]tia[ˈtʃiɐ]leite[ˈlejtʃi]
In the first eight cities, practically always. Salvador has them too: 85% of cases in recordings from the 1970s.
Recife, João Pessoa, Maceió, Aracaju, plus inland Rio Grande do Norte and southern Ceará (Cariri)
dia[ˈdiɐ]tia[ˈtiɐ]leite[ˈlejti]
Mostly plain d and t, as in Portugal. In Maceió and Aracaju, on the other hand, a “ch” can follow a “y” glide: oito [ˈojtʃu], muito [ˈmũjtʃu], especially among older speakers.
Natal, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Cuiabá and inland Rio Grande do Sul
Both variants. In Curitiba leite often comes out as [ˈlejte]: the final -e there often stays an “e” (see the card on final vowels).
Learn the “j” and “ch”: it is what most Brazilians say. The plain d and t of the Northeast are not a mistake but the local norm.
Unstressed final -e and -o: “ee/oo” or “e/o”
cidade— citynovo— new
Almost all of Brazil: Rio, São Paulo, the Northeast, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis
cidade[siˈdadʒi]novo[ˈnovu]
“Ee” and “oo”. In Porto Alegre and Florianópolis, final -o is “oo” in 95–97% of cases.
Curitiba and parts of the inland South: Chapecó, Flores da Cunha, Irati, communities of Italian and Polish descent
cidade[siˈdade]novo[ˈnovu ~ ˈnovo]
Final -e often stays an “e”, as spelled, so d and t before it stay hard: cidade [siˈdade]. Final -o is still mostly “oo”, but “o” is heard too, especially from older speakers; in some communities of Polish descent both vowels barely change.
L at the end of a syllable: “w” or “l”
Brasil— Brazilmal— badly
Almost all of Brazil
Brasil[bɾaˈziw]mal[ˈmaw]
A short “w”. That’s why mal (“badly”) and mau (“bad”) sound the same.
Inland Rio Grande do Sul: the borders with Uruguay and Argentina and communities of Italian and German descent, mostly older speakers
Brasil[bɾaˈziɫ]mal[ˈmaɫ]
A dark l, like the one in English “full”. It is fading: in Flores da Cunha there was no “w” in the early 1990s, and by 2008–2009 it made up 72% of cases.
E and O before the stressed syllable: closed or open
pedaço— piececoração— heart
The Southeast and the South: Rio, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Porto Alegre
pedaço[peˈdasu]coração[koɾaˈsɐ̃w̃]
Closed e and o: 75–100% of cases in these regions’ capitals, practically always in São Paulo.
The Northeast: Recife, Salvador, Fortaleza, João Pessoa, Natal, Maceió, Aracaju, Teresina, São Luís
pedaço[pɛˈdasu]coração[kɔɾaˈsɐ̃w̃]
Often open, as in “bed” and “law”. Closed ones make up only 39–49% of cases here.
This is the feature the philologist Antenor Nascentes used back in 1953 to split Brazil’s accents into northern and southern ones. Today, though, the North (Belém, Manaus) mostly keeps these vowels closed, so the North and the Northeast part ways here.
An extra “y” before a final s: três, mas, arroz
três— threemas— butarroz— rice
Rio de Janeiro
três[ˈtɾejʃ]mas[ˈmajʃ]arroz[aˈhojʃ]
A “y” glide appears before a final s in a stressed syllable, so mas (“but”) and mais (“more”) sound the same.
Porto Alegre, Curitiba
três[ˈtɾes]mas[ˈmas]arroz[aˈhos]
Usually no glide. Of the southern capitals, Florianópolis has it most often.
Which one should you use? The one you hear around you: in Rio, "sh" and a breathy r at the end of a syllable; in São Paulo, "s" and a tapped r. If you don't know yet where you'll live, pick one variant per sound and stick to it: you'll be understood in any city, and you'll learn to recognize the others by ear.
How to spell your name in Portuguese
Jjota
Oó
Hagá
Nene
Sesse
Meme
Ii
Ttê
Hagá
ˈʒɔtɐ · ɔ · aˈɡa · ˈẽni / ˈɛsi · ˈẽmi · i · te · aˈɡa
The page link keeps the name you typed — save it or send it.
In Brazil you will spell your name all the time: at the Polícia Federal when you register for your RNM, at a cartório, a bank, a clinic's front desk, a pharmacy, or on the phone. The verb to know is soletrar, "to spell out". These are the phrases you need:
Como se escreve?How do you spell it?
Pode soletrar, por favor?Could you spell it, please?
É com zê ou com esse?Is that with a Z or an S?
Com dois esses.With a double S.
Souza: esse, ó, u, zê, á.Souza: S, O, U, Z, A.
qual é o seu nome?what's your name?
pode repetir, por favor?can you repeat that, please?
pode escrever?can you write it down?
mais devagar, por favorslower, please
A typical exchange at a service counter:
Clerk:Qual é o seu sobrenome?What's your last name?
You:Smith.Smith.
Clerk:Como se escreve?How do you spell it?
You:Esse, eme, i, tê, agá.S, M, I, T, H.
Clerk:Com i ou com ípsilon?With an I or a Y?
You:Com i.With an I.
Pin a letter down with a word. On the phone, bê and vê or esse and efe are easy to confuse, so Brazilians add a word: "bê de bola", "vê de vaca", "esse de sapo". Double letters are counted: "com dois esses", "com dois erres".
Use the Portuguese letter names, not the English ones. Many Brazilians know some English, but an English "ee" for E sounds like their i, and an English "eye" for I is no letter name at all. Read the spelling from your passport letter by letter, by its Portuguese names.
For email addresses and forms: @ is arroba, a dot is ponto, a hyphen is hífen or traço, and an underscore is underline. "Tudo junto" means all one word, "separado" means separate, and maiúscula and minúscula are capital and lowercase.
Quick answers
How many letters are in the Portuguese alphabet? 26, the same as English. Ç and the digraphs ch, lh, nh, rr, ss, gu and qu are not counted as letters.
Is the Brazilian alphabet different from the European one? The letters are the same. A couple of names differ (guê and capa are more common in Portugal), and the pronunciation differs a lot more — see Brazilian vs European Portuguese.
How do I memorize the letter names? Spell your first name, last name and street aloud, checking against the audio. A couple of days later, try again without it, and replay any letter that didn't come back.
Listen and repeat real words
Every word in the Mnezo dictionary ships with synthesized BR-PT audio and an IPA transcription — listen, say it back out loud, and the trainer schedules the next review from your answers.
One week of Premium free · no card · level A1 free forever
Every word in the Mnezo dictionary ships with synthesized BR-PT audio and an IPA transcription — listen, say it back out loud, and the trainer schedules the next review from your answers.
One week of Premium free · no card · level A1 free forever