European Portuguese is written in the standard 26-letter Latin alphabet. That alone is good news for any English speaker: the inventory of letters you have to learn is exactly the inventory you already know. The tricky part — and the reason this page exists — is that the letters do not always sound the way an English reader expects, and a handful of letters (notably c, g, r, s, x, z) take on very different values depending on which letter follows. Once you internalise those context rules, Portuguese spelling becomes one of the most predictable systems in Europe: you can look at almost any unfamiliar written word and pronounce it correctly on the first attempt.
This page covers two things. First, the letters themselves — their names (which you need for spelling out words on the phone, dictating an email address, or reading abbreviations) and their default sounds. Second, the digraphs — pairs of letters that act as a single sound (ch, lh, nh, rr, ss, qu, gu) — without which Portuguese reading falls apart. The deep treatment of every individual sound lives in the pronunciation pages; this page is the reading-and-spelling reference.
The 26 letters
Since the Acordo Ortográfico 1990 (effective in Portugal from 2009), the Portuguese alphabet officially counts 26 letters, including k, w, and y. Before AO90, those three were considered "foreign letters" and listed as outside the alphabet proper, used only in loanwords (kebab, whisky, yoga), proper names (Kafka, Washington), and abbreviations (km, kg, kW). Today they are full alphabet members — though their distribution has not really changed: native PT-PT vocabulary still does not use them.
| Letter | Name (PT-PT) | Typical sound (IPA) | Example | English gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | á | /a/, /ɐ/ | casa | house |
| B b | bê | /b/ | bom | good |
| C c | cê | /k/ or /s/ | café, cidade | coffee, city |
| D d | dê | /d/ | dia | day |
| E e | é | /ɛ/, /e/, /ɨ/, /i/ | ela, mesa, de, este | she, table, of, this |
| F f | éfe | /f/ | falar | to speak |
| G g | gê (also guê) | /g/ or /ʒ/ | gato, gente | cat, people |
| H h | agá | silent | hoje | today |
| I i | i | /i/ | ilha | island |
| J j | jota | /ʒ/ | janela | window |
| K k | capa (also cá) | /k/ | kebab | kebab |
| L l | éle | /l/, /ɫ/ | lua, mil | moon, thousand |
| M m | éme | /m/, nasalisation | mãe, bom | mother, good |
| N n | éne | /n/, nasalisation | nada, em | nothing, in |
| O o | ó | /ɔ/, /o/, /u/ | pó, avô, povo | dust, grandfather, people |
| P p | pê | /p/ | pai | father |
| Q q | quê | /k/ (always with u) | queijo | cheese |
| R r | érre | /ɾ/, /ʁ/ | caro, rato | expensive, mouse |
| S s | ésse | /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ | sapo, casa, costa, mesmo | frog, house, coast, same |
| T t | tê | /t/ | tarde | afternoon |
| U u | u | /u/ | uva | grape |
| V v | vê | /v/ | vinho | wine |
| W w | dáblio (also vê duplo) | /w/, /v/ | windsurf | windsurf |
| X x | xis | /ʃ/, /ks/, /s/, /z/ | xá, táxi, máximo, exemplo | shah, taxi, maximum, example |
| Y y | ípsilon (also i grego) | /i/ | yoga | yoga |
| Z z | zê | /z/, /ʃ/ | zero, feliz | zero, happy |
The letter names are something you actually need. They are used for spelling out words letter by letter (Maria com em maiúsculo, a, érre, i, a), for dictating phone numbers and email addresses, and for reading common abbreviations aloud (ATM = á, tê, éme; USB = u, ésse, bê).
Como se escreve o teu nome? — Emma. É é, éme, éme, a.
How do you write your name? — Emma. It's E, M, M, A.
O meu email é Maria, éme, a, érre, i, a, arroba gmail ponto com.
My email is Maria, M, A, R, I, A, at gmail dot com.
Vou ditar a matrícula: dois, cinco, quê, érre, sete.
I'll dictate the licence plate: two-five, Q, R, seven.
Vowels in detail
European Portuguese has five vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u) but more vowel sounds — somewhere between nine and twelve oral vowels depending on the dialect and the analysis, plus a parallel set of nasal vowels. The good news is that, for reading, the rules are mostly mechanical:
- a — open /a/ when stressed (casa, fala, sapato); reduces to /ɐ/ unstressed (casa, mala) and to a near-schwa in word-final unstressed position.
- e — open /ɛ/ stressed and marked with acute (café, pé); closed /e/ stressed and marked with circumflex (você, três); reduced to /ɨ/ or even silent in unstressed positions (de, este, leite).
- i — almost always /i/ (vida, ilha, livro).
- o — open /ɔ/ stressed and marked with acute (pó, avó, sol); closed /o/ stressed and marked with circumflex (avô, pôr); reduced to /u/ in word-final unstressed position (livro, povo, gato).
- u — almost always /u/ (uva, lua, tudo); silent in gu/qu before e/i (guerra, queijo).
The reduction of unstressed e and o is the single feature that gives EP its distinctive "swallowed" sound. Unstressed o at the end of a word becomes /u/ — livro sounds like /'livɾu/, gato like /'gatu/. Unstressed e at the end becomes a barely-pronounced /ɨ/, often dropped entirely — leite sounds like /'lajt/, noite like /'nojt/.
O livro está em cima da mesa.
The book is on top of the table. (final -o reduces to /u/ in livro and cima)
A noite estava fria mas linda.
The night was cold but beautiful. (final -e in noite is barely audible)
Bebi um café e comi um pastel.
I drank a coffee and ate a pastry. (stressed open é and é, both marked with the acute)
For the full system see Vowel System and Vowel Reduction.
Consonants with two values: c, g
Two letters have a front-vs-back distinction inherited directly from Latin. The same letter sounds one way before a, o, u (the "back" vowels) and a different way before e, i (the "front" vowels).
c
- Before a, o, u or any consonant: /k/ as in English cat.
- Before e, i: /s/ as in English cinema.
café, casa, cor, cuidar (c = /k/ before a, o, u)
coffee, house, colour, to look after
cidade, cinco, cebola, centro (c = /s/ before e, i)
city, five, onion, centre
O Carlos comprou cinco cafés na cantina.
Carlos bought five coffees in the canteen.
When the writer wants /s/ before a, o, u — going against the default — Portuguese uses ç (the cedilha). This is why you see coração, açúcar, faço rather than corasão, asucar, faso. The cedilha is treated in detail at The Cedilha.
g
- Before a, o, u or any consonant: /g/ as in English go.
- Before e, i: /ʒ/ as in English measure, French je.
gato, gosto, guarda (g = /g/ before a, o, u)
cat, taste, guard
gente, ginásio, gelado (g = /ʒ/ before e, i)
people, gym, ice cream
A gente foi ao ginásio depois de comer um gelado.
We went to the gym after eating an ice cream.
When the writer wants /g/ before e, i — against the default — Portuguese inserts a silent u: gue, gui (guerra, guitarra, seguir). The u is purely orthographic; it is not pronounced. The same trick works for /k/ before e, i: que, qui (queijo, quinze). See Digraphs below.
The Latin family: q
The letter q is always followed by u. The combination has two values:
- qu before e, i: /k/, the u silent. queijo /'kɐjʒu/, quinze /'kĩzɨ/.
- qu before a, o: /kw/, the u pronounced. quanto /'kwɐ̃tu/, quotidiano /kwɔti'djɐnu/.
queijo, quinze, querer, esquina (qu = /k/ before e, i)
cheese, fifteen, to want, corner
quanto, quando, quase, quotidiano (qu = /kw/ before a, o)
how much, when, almost, daily
Quanto custa esta esquina de queijo?
How much does this slice of cheese cost?
The R sounds
European Portuguese has two distinct R sounds that are spelled with the same letter but in different positions.
- Single r between vowels: a tap /ɾ/, the same sound as Spanish single r (pero) or American English tt in butter.
- Single r at the start of a word, or after l, n, s: an uvular trill /ʁ/ or /ʀ/, the throat-r typical of European Portuguese. The same sound as French r.
- Double rr between vowels: also the uvular /ʁ/. The doubling distinguishes it from the tap.
caro, para, paragem (single r between vowels = tap /ɾ/)
expensive, for, stop
rato, rua, Rio (initial r = uvular /ʁ/)
mouse, street, river
carro, terra, ferro (double rr = uvular /ʁ/)
car, land/earth, iron
O caro Roberto comprou um carro novo no Rio.
Dear Roberto bought a new car in Rio. (caro = tap, Roberto = uvular, carro = uvular)
The minimal pair caro / carro ("expensive / car") is the standard test case. Single r gives a quick tap, double rr a strong throat-r. Mixing them up is one of the first errors English speakers make.
For the full treatment see R Sounds.
The S sounds — four values from one letter
The letter s is the most context-sensitive letter in EP. Its sound depends on position and on what follows.
| Position | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Word-initial | /s/ | sapato, sol, sentir |
| After a consonant | /s/ | pensar, falso, persa |
| Between vowels (single s) | /z/ | casa, asa, museu |
| Between vowels (double ss) | /s/ | passar, missa, processo |
| Syllable-final, before voiceless consonant | /ʃ/ (sh) | costa, escola, três pães |
| Syllable-final, before voiced consonant | /ʒ/ (zh) | mesmo, asno, três bolos |
| Word-final, before pause or vowel | /ʃ/ | livros, mais, três |
The most distinctive PT-PT feature here is the syllable-final /ʃ/ — the "sh" sound that gives European Portuguese its instantly recognisable hiss. Lisboa sounds like /liʒ'boɐ/, Portugal like /puɾtu'gaɫ/, escola like /(ɨ)ʃ'kɔlɐ/ (with the initial e often dropped in casual speech). PT-BR pronounces all the syllable-final s's with /s/, which is why a PT-PT speaker sounds quite different from a PT-BR one even when reading the same text.
A casa do João tem três janelas para a costa.
João's house has three windows facing the coast. (casa = /z/, três + costa runs together with /ʃk/)
Os miúdos estão na escola até às cinco.
The kids are at school until five. (multiple syllable-final s's all become /ʃ/)
For the full inventory see S and Z Sounds.
The X letter — Portuguese's wild card
The letter x has at least four distinct values, and there is no fully reliable rule for which to use. You learn the pronunciation word by word.
| Sound | Examples | Note |
|---|---|---|
| /ʃ/ ("sh") — most common | xá, xícara, xadrez, peixe, deixar | The default value for native Portuguese vocabulary |
| /ks/ | táxi, fixo, oxigénio, anexo | Common in learned/scientific Latinisms |
| /s/ | máximo, próximo, sintaxe, trouxe | A small set of high-frequency words |
| /z/ | exemplo, exame, exercício, exibir | Almost always in the prefix ex- + vowel |
A useful pattern: words beginning with the prefix ex- followed by a vowel are pronounced with /z/ (exemplo, exame, exato, exibir, executivo). Words beginning with ex- followed by a consonant, or where ex- is fossilised inside a learned word, are usually /(e)ʃ/ or /ks/ (explicar, expediente, externo).
Por exemplo, o táxi mais próximo está a três minutos.
For example, the nearest taxi is three minutes away. (exemplo = /z/, táxi = /ks/, próximo = /s/)
Trouxe um peixe da peixaria para o jantar.
I brought a fish from the fishmonger's for dinner. (trouxe = /s/, peixe + peixaria = /ʃ/)
O exame de matemática tem questões de sintaxe e de oxigénio.
The maths exam has questions on syntax and oxygen. (exame = /z/, sintaxe = /s/, oxigénio = /ks/)
The Z letter
- Word-initial or between vowels: /z/ (zero, fazer, azul, dezembro).
- Syllable-final or word-final: /ʃ/ in PT-PT (feliz, paz, capaz, voz) — the same shift that affects syllable-final s.
O Zé é capaz de fazer dez bolos num dia feliz.
Zé is capable of making ten cakes on a happy day. (Zé, fazer, dez = /z/; capaz, feliz = final /ʃ/)
A paz e o azul do mar.
The peace and the blue of the sea. (paz = /ʃ/, azul = /z/)
The /z/ ↔ /ʃ/ alternation is parallel to s. In PT-PT both letters share the syllable-final /ʃ/ realisation; PT-BR keeps them distinct.
The H letter — silent always
The letter h is silent at the start of every word in modern PT-PT.
hoje, hospital, herói, humano (silent h, all begin with the vowel sound)
today, hospital, hero, human
O hospital fica perto da minha casa.
The hospital is near my house. (hospital begins with the /o/ sound; the h is invisible to the ear)
The h survives in the alphabet for two reasons. First, etymology — Portuguese inherits its spellings from Latin and Greek (hora, herói, hospital all come from Latin/Greek h-words). Second, digraphs — the letter h is essential as the second member of ch, lh, nh, which represent three distinct sounds. Without h you could not write chave, filho, vinho.
Digraphs — two letters, one sound
Seven combinations of letters function as single sounds in Portuguese spelling. You must read them as units, not letter by letter.
| Digraph | Sound (IPA) | Examples | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /ʃ/ | chave, chuva, chá | ship |
| lh | /ʎ/ | filho, mulher, ilha | lli in million |
| nh | /ɲ/ | vinho, manhã, sonho | ni in onion |
| rr | /ʁ/ | carro, terra, ferro | French r; gargled |
| ss | /s/ | passar, massa, isso | English s |
| qu (before e/i) | /k/ | queijo, quinze, esquerda | English k; u silent |
| gu (before e/i) | /g/ | guerra, guitarra, seguir | English hard g; u silent |
A chave do meu carro está em cima da mesa.
The key to my car is on top of the table. (ch = /ʃ/, rr = /ʁ/)
A minha filha bebe leite com mel todas as manhãs.
My daughter drinks milk with honey every morning. (lh in filha, nh in manhãs)
O queijo da Serra é o melhor de Portugal.
Serra cheese is the best in Portugal. (qu = /k/, lh in melhor)
A guerra acabou em mil novecentos e quarenta e cinco.
The war ended in nineteen forty-five. (gu = /g/, qu = /k/)
The digraphs lh and nh correspond to Spanish ll and ñ respectively — the palatal l and palatal n. They are not "lh" and "nh" sounds in any letter-by-letter sense; they are single phonemes.
For deeper coverage see LH and NH Sounds and the digraph entries in Pronunciation Overview.
Notes for English speakers
The big asymmetry of Portuguese spelling, from an English-speaker perspective, is that reading is easy and writing is harder. Once you know the rules above, you can read a word you have never seen and pronounce it close to correctly. Going the other way — hearing a word and writing it down — is harder, because PT-PT has merged some sounds in pronunciation that the spelling still distinguishes.
The main writing pitfalls:
- /s/ between vowels can be spelled ss (passar), ç (moço), or c before e/i (acima) — see SS vs S vs C vs Ç.
- /z/ between vowels can be spelled s (casa) or z (fazer) — usually a lexical question.
- /ʃ/ syllable-final can be spelled s (pasta) or, much more rarely, x or z — s is by far the most common.
- The X letter has four pronunciations and limited rules — words must be learned individually.
The reading pitfalls (going from spelling to sound):
- Silent u in gu/qu before e/i is automatic; without a memory of the word, beginners pronounce queijo as /'kwejʒu/ instead of /'kɐjʒu/.
- Final unstressed e is barely pronounced or fully silent — leite is /'lajtɨ/ or even /lajt/, not /'lej.te/.
- Final unstressed o becomes /u/ — livro is /'livɾu/, not /'liv.ɾo/.
These are not exotic features; they are the heart of EP pronunciation and what makes it sound different from Spanish or PT-BR.
Common mistakes
❌ pronouncing the h in *hospital* or *hoje*
The h is silent in modern PT-PT. *Hoje* = /ʹoʒɨ/, not /ʹhoʒɨ/.
✅ silent h: hospital /(ɨ)ʃpiʹtaɫ/, hoje /ʹoʒɨ/, herói /iʹɾɔj/
hospital, today, hero
❌ pronouncing single intervocalic *r* as the throat-r
*caro* (expensive) has a tap /ɾ/, not the uvular /ʁ/. The throat sound is for *carro* (car) with double rr, or for word-initial r as in *rato*.
✅ caro /'kaɾu/ vs carro /'kaʁu/
The two words differ only by the R type — and they mean different things.
❌ writing *k* in native PT vocabulary
*K* is officially in the alphabet (since AO90) but used only in loanwords and proper names. Native words use *c* or *qu*: *casa*, not *kasa*; *queijo*, not *keijo*.
✅ k only in: kebab, kiwi, Kafka, km, kg, yoga (loanwords and abbreviations)
Limit k to its proper domain.
❌ pronouncing the *u* in *queijo* or *guerra*
In *qu/gu + e/i*, the *u* is silent. *Queijo* is /ˈkɐjʒu/, *guerra* is /ˈɡɛʁɐ/. Pronouncing the *u* is a beginner tell.
✅ silent u: queijo /ˈkɐjʒu/, guerra /ˈɡɛʁɐ/, seguir /sɨˈɡiɾ/, quinze /ˈkĩzɨ/
The u is purely orthographic — there to make the c/g 'hard' before e/i.
❌ writing *cidade* as *sidade* or *cinco* as *sinco*
The /s/ sound before *e* and *i* is spelled with *c*, not *s*. The doubt is understandable — both letters give /s/ in this context — but the spelling tradition is clear: c before e/i for the /s/ sound.
✅ cidade, cinco, cebola, certo (c before e/i = /s/)
city, five, onion, sure
❌ over-pronouncing word-final unstressed -e and -o
*Leite* is not /'lej.te/ but /'lajtɨ/ or even /lajt/; *gato* is not /'ga.to/ but /'gatu/. EP reduces and frequently elides these vowels.
✅ leite /ˈlajtɨ/, gato /ˈɡatu/, livro /ˈlivɾu/, noite /ˈnojtɨ/
Final unstressed -e becomes a barely-audible /ɨ/ or vanishes; final unstressed -o becomes /u/.
Key takeaways
- The Portuguese alphabet has 26 letters since AO90 — the standard Latin set, with k, w, y now official though limited in native vocabulary.
- The letter names in PT-PT are essential for spelling words aloud: á, bê, cê, dê, é, éfe, gê, agá, i, jota, capa, éle, éme, éne, ó, pê, quê, érre, ésse, tê, u, vê, dáblio, xis, ípsilon, zê.
- Front-vs-back vowel rule: c and g sound one way before a, o, u (/k/, /g/) and another before e, i (/s/, /ʒ/). To override: use ç for /s/ before a, o, u; use qu/gu (with silent u) for /k/, /g/ before e, i.
- Q is always followed by u: qu + e/i = /k/ (silent u); qu + a/o = /kw/ (pronounced u).
- R has two values: tap /ɾ/ between vowels (caro); uvular /ʁ/ initially, after l/n/s, or written as rr (rato, carro).
- S has four values: /s/ initially or after consonant; /z/ between vowels; /ʃ/ before voiceless consonants and word-finally; /ʒ/ before voiced consonants.
- X is irregular — four common values (/ʃ, ks, s, z/) with no airtight rule. Learn each word.
- Z = /z/ initially and intervocalic, /ʃ/ syllable-final and word-final (parallel to s).
- H is silent at the start of every word in PT-PT; it survives in spelling for etymology and as the second letter of ch, lh, nh.
- The digraphs ch /ʃ/, lh /ʎ/, nh /ɲ/, rr /ʁ/, ss /s/, qu /k/, gu /g/ are single sounds — read them as units.
Related Topics
- Portuguese Spelling OverviewA1 — An orienting tour of European Portuguese orthography — alphabet, diacritics, digraphs, nasal spelling, and the Acordo Ortográfico 1990 reforms that still affect every modern PT-PT text.
- Accent Mark RulesA2 — When and why each Portuguese diacritic — acute, circumflex, tilde, grave, and the cedilha — is written, and the underlying logic that ties stress, vowel quality, and nasalisation into a single bidirectional system.
- The Cedilha (Ç)A1 — When and how to write the cedilha — the small hook that turns *c* into /s/ before *a, o, u* — including the verb-conjugation alternations that produce it predictably.
- European Portuguese Pronunciation OverviewA1 — A tour of the sound system of European Portuguese — the vowels, the consonants, the stress patterns, and the features that give the Lisbon standard its unmistakable compressed, consonant-rich character.
- The Consonant SystemA1 — A systematic tour of the consonant inventory of European Portuguese — stops, fricatives, nasals, liquids, and the palatal and uvular sounds that give Lisbon Portuguese its distinctive texture.
- The Portuguese Vowel SystemA1 — A guide to the nine oral vowels of European Portuguese — open and closed mid-vowels, stressed vs. unstressed quality, the reduced vowels that dominate the dialect, and how the spelling encodes it all.