In this lesson, let’s have a look at the Pronunciation of ã â á a in European Portuguese. Please refer to the video below for the audio pronunciation of the words and examples in this lesson.
IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet
ã = /ɐ̃/
â = /ɐ̃/* This one usually sounds the same as the previous one, and I’ll explain why in a moment.
á = /a/
a = /ɐ/
Examples of words with ã
The letter ã is pronounced as a nasal sound similar to the “an” in the English word “man” or the “un” in the English word “fun.” Here are some examples:
maçã (apple) = /mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/
irmã (sister) = /iɾ.ˈmɐ̃/
alemã (german – feminine) = /ɐ.ɫɨ.ˈmɐ̃/
Examples of words with ã
In European Portuguese, the letter â is pronounced as a closed mid-back rounded vowel. But because it occurs with a nasal consonant, it sounds very much like ã.
The hat is called a circumflex accent and it’s used to indicate the stressed syllable in the word. Here are some examples:
câmara (chamber) = /ˈkɐ.mɐ.ɾɐ/
ambulância (ambulance) = /ɐ̃.bu.ˈɫɐ̃.si.ɐ/
distância (distance) = /dɨʃ.ˈtɐ̃.si.ɐ/
Examples of words with á
Now let’s move on to the open a’s. In European Portuguese, the letter á is pronounced as an open front vowel.
água (water) = /ˈa.gi.ɐ/
árvore (tree) = /ˈaɾ.vu.ɾɨ/
águia (eagle) = /ˈa.gi.ɐ/
What about à?
à is also pronounced the same as á but is different because it’s used specifically to indicate what’s called a crasis. A crasis is a contraction between the preposition a (to/at) and either the definite article a (the) or the demonstrative pronouns aquele (that one) and its variants, for instance:
Vou à praia. (I’m going to the beach)
Vou dar isto àquele senhor. (I’m giving this to that man over there.)
a can also sound like á
Another thing to keep in mind is that a can also be pronounced á but it has to be in the stressed syllable:
Portugal = /puɾ.tu.ˈgaɫ/
Comprar (to buy) = /kõ.ˈpɾaɾ/
barco (boat) = /ˈbaɾ.ku/
What about à?
Last but not least, we have the closed “a”. These occur when the letter a is in the unstressed syllable.
Adelina = /ɐ.dɨ.ˈɫi.nɐ/
Linda (gorgeous) = /ˈɫĩ.dɐ/
porta (door) = /ˈpoɾ.tɐ/
Video Lesson
In this video, I pronounce all the words in this lesson!