The 54 Elemental Sounds of
European Portuguese
- LECTURES
- DRILLS
- AMA
Everything we say in European Portuguese is made from a combination of the sounds below. For each possible sound, we review how it is made in the speech organ and how it sounds. To help you tune your ear to a specific sound, I have provided word lists for you to download and listen to closely.
The drills listed below are meant to address both general speech issues and problems specifically related to the Portuguese language. Don't get frustrated if you don't accomplish the goals of the drills right away - everything just takes a bit of repeated practice and rest.
For best experience on mobile, tilt your device horizontally.
| Primary Oral Vowels | /a/ | /i/ | /u/ | /e/ | /o/ | ||
| Secondary Oral Vowels | /ɛ/ | /ɔ/ | /ɐ/ | /ɨ/ | |||
| Fixed Nasal Vowels | /ĩ/ | /ẽ/ | /ã/ | /õ/ | /ũ/ | ||
| Primary Front-Moving Vowels | /ai/ | /oi/ | /ui/ | ||||
| Secondary Front-Moving Vowels | /ɐi/ | /ɔi/ | |||||
| Front-Moving Nasal Vowels | /ãĩ/ | /õĩ/ | /ũĩ/ | ||||
| Back-Moving Vowels | /eu/ | /ɛu/ | /iu/ | /ou/ | /ãũ/ | ||
| Labial Consonants | /m/ | /p/ | /b/ | /f/ | /v/ | ||
| Alveolar Consonants | /t/ | /t*/ | /n/ | /d/ | /s/ | /z/ | /l/ |
| Palatal & Velar Consonants | /j/ | /k/ | /g/ | /w/ | |||
| Post-Alveolar Consonants | /ʃ/ | /ʒ/ | /#/ | ||||
| Tricky Alveolo-Palatal Consonants | /ʎ/ | /ɲ/ | |||||
| Tricky “R & L” Consonants | /&/ | /ʁ/ | /ɫ/ |
More Resources
Note: Best used with a laptop
