How to pronounce the letter ‘o’ in Brazilian Portuguese

In this post we’ll learn the different ways you can pronounce the letter o in Brazilian Portuguese words.

Many students of Brazilian Portuguese often tell me they find it difficult to pronounce the letter o in Brazilian Portuguese, mainly because they can’t actually hear the difference between the open and closed sounds of it.

1. Open sound

Like the o in the English word ‘bought’. examples:

bola (ball)

avó (grandmother)

(It’s quite common for Brazilians to just say vó without the a)

vó (grandmother)

cola (glue)

pó (dust).

Note that when the o is under the acute accent [ ´ ] it is always pronounced as an open sound, no matter where it is in the word.

2. Closed sound

It’s a short ‘oh’ sound, similar to the o in the English word no:

nome (name)

avô (grandfather)

(It’s quite common for Brazilians to just say vô without the a)

vô (grandfather)

ônibus (bus)

Note that when the o is under the circumflex accent [^] is is always pronounced as a closed sound, no matter where it is in the word.

3. oo sound

If the o is the last letter of a word, it is pronounced more like the oo in food.

dedo (finger)

alto (tall)

4. Diphthongs (vowel pairs) with the letter o

io

-> at the end of a word: both vowels blend into [ee-oo] as in you

prédio (building)

-> not at the end of a word: normal closed sound.

biologia (biology)

oi

closed o sound combined with ee

noite (night)

oi (hello/hi)

oa

The o is pronounced with the oo sound

voar (to fly)

ao

(as in cow)

ao (to)

caos (chaos)

oe

closed sound (not at the end of a word)

poeta (poet)

ou

closed sound – the u is silent.

Ele chegou. (He arrived.)

Sou (I am)

5. Nasal sounds

Brazilian Portuguese has many nasal vowel sounds. They happen when a vowel is followed by the letter m (and sometimes n) or when the vowel combination has a tilde accent [~]. The sound produced is similar to the sound in English words ending in -ng (song, ping) but when the g is barely pronounced. Let’s have a look at some examples of nasal sounds with the vowel o.