Comparative Grammar 1.1. Alphabet & Pronunciation in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

This comparative grammar lesson of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French covers alphabet, pronunciation, consonants, vowels, sounds, syllable stress, and other related introductory topics.

Your Anki cards will help you memorize the material in a non-boring way until you master what you have learned.

Table of Contents

• Alphabet & Pronunciation
• Consonants
  • The letter “b”
  • The letter “c”
  • The letter “d”
  • The letter “g”
  • The combination “gu”:
  • The letter “h”
  • The letter “j”
  • The letter “l”
  • The letter “q”
  • The letter “r”
  • The letter “s”
  • The letter “t”
  • The letter “x”
  • The letter “y”
  • The letter “z”
  • The letter “ñ” in Spanish
  • Double letters
• Silent Final Consonants in French
  • Pronounced vs. Unpronounced Final Consonant Rules
• Vowels
  • Vowels in Spanish
  • Vowels in Portuguese
    • 1. Oral Vowels
    • 2. Nasal Vowels
  • Vowels in Italian
  • Vowels in French
    • 1. Oral Vowels
    • 2. Nasal Vowels
• Syllable Stress
  • Syllable Stress in Spanish
  • Syllable Stress in Portuguese
  • Syllable Stress in Italian
  • Syllable Stress in French
• Liaison in French
  • Liaison Prohibition Rules
• Level I – Basic

Alphabet & Pronunciation

Start with the alphabet in the table below. Use your Anki cards to anchor what you learned via spaced-repetition exercises.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
SP	ah	be	se	de	e	ef-e	he
PT							je
IT		bee	chee	dee		eff-e	jee
FR		be	se	de	ə	ef	je
	H	I	J	K	L	M	N
SP	ach-e	ee	ho-ta	ka	el-e	em-e	en-e
PT	a-ga		jo-ta
IT	ak-ka		ee loon-ga	kap-pa	el-le	em-me	en-ne
FR	ash		jee	ka	el	em	en
	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U
SP	o	pe	koo	er-e	es-e	te	oo
PT			ke	eh-e
IT		pee	koo	er-re	es-se	tee
FR		pe	kµ	eя	es	te	µ
	V	W	X	Y	Z	RR	Ñ
SP	oo-be	dob-le oo	ek-ees	ee gree-ye-ga	se-ta	er-re	en-ye
PT	ve	dab-lee-yo	shees	eep-see-lõ	ze	–	–
IT	voo	voo dop-pia	eeks	ee-psee-lon	tse-ta	–	–
FR	ve	dooblə  ve		ee gяek	zed	–	–

Throughout the lessons, we will use slash marks “/” to mark the pronunciation of some words. We highlight the stressed syllable in bold in case of multi-syllable words, e.g., “casa” in Italian /ka-za/ (house).

In the official Italian alphabet, there are only 21 letters (5 vowels & 16 consonants) compared to 26 in English. The letters “j,” “k,” “w,” “x,” and “y” are not in the official Italian alphabet. However, they can still be encountered in some loanwords and acronyms.

Consonants

The following letters are only found in borrowed foreign words:

SP	“k” and “w”
PT	“k,” “w,” and “y”
IT	“j,” “k,” “w,” “x,” and “y”

The letter “b”

In Spanish, the letters “b” and “v” have an identical sound. This sound is close to the English “b” but with less pressure on the lips and with less aspiration.

The letter “v” in Spanish is called “uve” (pronounced “oo-be”) or “ve corta” (pronounced “be cor-ta”).

The letter “c”

“c” + any letter other than “e,” “i,” or “h”

In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, the letter “c” sounds like English “k,” before any letter other than “e,” “i,” or “h.”

“c” + “e” or “i”

In Latin American Spanish, Portuguese, and French, the letter “c” sounds like English “s” only before “e” or “i.” In the Spanish of Spain, the “c” before “e” or “i” sounds like “th” in “three.”

In Italian, if the letter “c” is followed by “e” or “i,” it is pronounced like “ch” in “cheese.”

“ç”

In Portuguese and French, if the letter “c” is written with a cedilla, i.e., “ç,” it is pronounced like “s” in “sea.” The cedilla is always followed by a vowel other than “e” or “i.”

“c” + “h”

In Spanish, “ch” sounds exactly like in English, that is, like “ch” in “cheese.”

In Portuguese and French, the “ch” combination is pronounced like “sh” in “sheep.”

In Italian, “ch” can only sound like “k” in “kit,” and never like “ch” in “cheese.” The equivalent “ch” sound in English is formed only when the “c” is followed by an “i” or “e.”

c	+	“e” or “i”	SP/PT/FR	like English “s” in “sea”
			IT	like English “ch” in “cheese”
ç	+	“a,” “o,” or “u”	PT/FR	like English “s” in “sea”
c	+	“h”	SP	like English “ch” in “cheese”
			PT/FR	like English “sh” in “sheep”
			IT	like English “k” in “kit”
c	+	any letter other than “e,” “i,” or “h”	SP/PT/IT/FR	like English “k” in “kit”

Here are some examples:

SP	“c” + “e” or “i”	“cielo”	/sye-lo/	sky
	“c” + “h”	“China”	/chee-na/	China
	“c” + other letters	“casa”	/ka-sa/	house
PT	“c” + “e” or “i”	“céu”	/se-oo/	sky
	“ç” + “a,” “o,” or “u”	“maçã”	/ma-sã/	apple
	“c” + “h”	“China”	/shee-na/	China
	“c” + other letters	“casa”	/ka-za/	house
IT	“c” + “e” or “i”	“cielo”	/che-lo/	sky
	“c” + other letters	“casa”	/ka-za/	house
FR	“c” + “e” or “i”	“ciel”	/syel/	sky
	“ç” + “a,” “o,” or “u”	“ça”	/sa/	this
	“c” + “h”	“Chine”	/sheen /	China
	“c” + other letters	“café”	/ka-fe/	coffee

The letter “d”

In Spanish, the letter “d” is equivalent to English “d” with tongue slightly forward like “th” in “then.”

In Portuguese, the letter “d” is pronounced like an English “d,” except before “i” or an unstressed final “e,” where it sounds like “j” in “joy.” For example, “dia” /jee-ya/ (day), “sede” /se-ji/ (thirst), etc.

The letter “g”

“g” + “e” or “i”

Before “e” or “i,” the letter “g” sounds:

SP	like “h” in “hero,” e.g., “gente” /hen-te/ (people)
PT	like “s” in “measure,” e.g., “gelo” /je-lo/ (ice)
IT	like “j” in “jam,” e.g., “gelato” /je-la-to/ (ice cream)
FR	like “s” in “measure,” e.g., “gilet” /jee-le/ (vest)

Before a letter other than “e” or “i,” the letter “g” sounds like “g” in “get” in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French.

In Italian, in addition to the above rules, the letter “g” can precede “n” or “li” to form the following two special sounds:

1. The letter “g” can precede the letter “n” to form “gn,” pronounced like “ny” in “canyon.” For example, “gnocchi” is pronounced as “nyok-kee.”
2. The letter “g” can precede “li” to form “gli,” pronounced like “lli” in “million.” For example, “figlia,” meaning “daughter,” is pronounced as “fee-lya.” There are only few exceptions in which “gli” is pronounced with hard “g” as in “glee,” and not with “ly” sound. For example, “anglicismo” (anglicism), “geroglifico” (hieroglyph), “glicerina” (glycerine), “negligere” (to neglect), and “gliconio” (glyconium).

The letter “i” is used in Italian to change the pronunciation of “g” from hard to soft if the “g” precedes a letter that is not “e” or “i.” For instance, “giorno” (day) is pronounced “jor-no,” i.e., soft “g.” From the perspective of an English speaker, this explains how to produce the “j” sound before an “e” or “i” in Italian despite the absence of the letter “j” from the Italian alphabet. To summarize the possible sounds in Italian:

g	+	“e” or “i”	soft “g”	“gelato” pronounced “je-la-to”
gi	+	“a,” “o,” or “u”	soft “g”	“giorno” pronounced “jor-no”
g	+	any letter other than “e,” “i,” “n,” or “li”	hard “g”	“gatto” pronounced “gat-to”
gh	+	“e” or “i”	hard “g”	“spaghetti” pronounced “spa-get-tee”
gn			“ny” sound	“gnocchi” pronounced “nyok-kee”
gli			“ly” sound	“figlia” pronounced “fee-lya”

The combination “gu”:

In Spanish, the letter “u” is silent after “g” if it is followed by “e” or “i.” For example, “guitarra” (guitar) is pronounced /gee-ta-rra/ and not /gwee-ta-rra/.

An exception is made when the “u” in “gue” or “gui” has a dieresis “ü.” In this case, the “güe” and “güi” sounds are pronounced as “gwe” and “gwee,” respectively. For example, “argüir” /ar-gweer/ (to argue).

If the “gu” is not followed by “e” or “i,” it is then pronounced as “gw.” For example, “guardar” (to keep) is pronounced /gwar-dar/.

In Portuguese, the letter “u” is mute when it falls between the letter “g” and “e” or “i” to maintain the hard “g” pronunciation. For example, “guerra” /ge-ha/ (war), “guitarra” /gee-ta-ha/ (guitar), etc.

There are a few words in which “gu” is pronounced like the English “gw” sound before “e” or “i.” For example, “aguentar” /ag-wẽ-ta/ (to withstand or put up with).

In French, the letter “u” is almost always mute when it falls after the letter “g” to maintain the hard “g” pronunciation. For example, “guerre” /geя/ (war), “guarder” /gaя-de/ (to keep), “guitare” /gee-taя/ (guitar), etc.

There are only few exceptions in which the “u” is pronounced after the “g.” For example, “Uruguay” /µ-яµ-gwai/, “jaguar” /ja-gwaя/, “aiguille” /e-gµy/ (needle), and “linguiste” /lĩ-gweest/ (linguist).

The letter “h”

In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, the letter “h” is silent, unless it is combined with “c” to form the “ch” sound as in “cheese” in Spanish, “sh” sound as in “sheep” in Portuguese and French, and “k” sound as in “kit” in Italian.

In Portuguese, there are two exceptions:

1. When “h” is preceded by “n” to form the combination “nh,” which is pronounced like “ny” in “canyon,” e.g., “lenho” /le-nyo/ (wood).
2. When “h” is preceded by “l” to form the combination “lh,” which is pronounced like “lli” in “million,” e.g., “olho” /o-lyo/ (eye).

In French, there is also the combination “ph,” which forms the equivalent English sound “f.”

Although the “h” is always not pronounced in French, there is a distinction between a mute “h” and aspirated “h.” This simply goes back to the origin of the word. Words of Latin origin tend to have a mute “h,” whereas words of Germanic origin tend to have an aspirated “h.” The difference is subtle and only appears in a few cases such as contraction with the definite article. This will be discussed in more detail in Lesson 7 of this level.

The letter “j”

In Spanish, the letter “j” sounds like “h” in “home.”

In Portuguese and French, the letter “j” sounds more like “s” in “measure.”

In Italian, the letter “j” sounds like “j” in “jam.”

The letter “l”

In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, the letter “l” is equivalent to that in English but has a softer sound.

In Spanish, the doubled letter “ll” is pronounced like “y” in “yes.” In some countries, it sounds more like “j” in “judge.”

In French, there are two cases in which “l” sounds like “y” in “yogurt.”

Case #1: The combination vowel + “il”

Examples include: “bail” /bey/ (lease), “œil” /euy/ (eye), “soleil” /so-ley/ (sun), etc. Words ending in “-uile” are an exception, e.g., “huile” /ə-weel/ (oil), “tuile” /t-weel/ (tile), etc.

Case #2: The combination vowel/consonant + “ill”

If the combination “ill” is preceded by a vowel, then it falls under Case #1. For example, “feuille” /feuy/ (leaf), “paille” /pay/ (straw), etc. In this case, the “ll” is always pronounced like English “y.”

If the combination “ill” is preceded by a consonant, the “ll” is pronounced like English “y” in most words and like simple “l” in some words. Here are some examples:

“ll” pronounced like “y”		“ll” pronounced like “l”
fillef	girl	villef	city
famillef	family	tranquillem,f	calm
vanillef	vanilla	Lille	Lille (a city)
cédillef	cedilla (ç)	distiller	to distill
Bastillef	Bastille	osciller	to swing or oscillate

In addition to the above examples, the “ll” in numbers such as “mille^m” /meel/ (thousand), “million^m” /meel-yõ/ (million), “milliard^m” /meel-yaя/ (billion), and “billion^m” /beel-yõ/ (trillion), is pronounced like “l.”

Finally, if the “ll” is preceded by a vowel other than “i,” it is pronounced like “l.” For example, “salle” /sal/ (room), “belle” /bel/ (beautiful), “folle” /fol/ (crazy), “syllabe” /see-lab/ (syllable), etc.

The letter “q”

In Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, the letter “q” is always followed by the letter “u.”

In Spanish, the combination “qu” is always pronounced like English “k” in “kit.” For example, “querer” /ke-rer/ (to want).

In Portuguese, the combination “qu” sounds like “kw” before “a” and “o,” and like “k” before “e” and “i.” For example, “quatro” /kwa-tro/ (four), “quilo” /kee-lo/ (kilo). In only a few words, the “qu” is pronounced like the English “kw” sound before “e” or “i.” For example, “equestre” /ek-we-stre/ (equestrian).

In Italian, the combination “qu” always sounds like “kw,” e.g., “quando” /kwan-do/ (when), “qui” / kwee/ (here), etc.

In French, the letter “q” is almost always followed by the letter “u” and sounds like “k,” e.g., “qui”/kee/(who/that). There are only a few exceptions in which the “q” is not followed by “u,” such as “cinq” /sĩk/ (five) and “coq” /kok/ (rooster). In only a few words, the “qu” is pronounced like the English “kw” sound, e.g., “équateur” /ek-wa-teuя/ (equator).

The letter “r”

In Spanish, the letter “r” sounds like English “r” but rolled with a single flap against the upper palate.

The combination “rr” is considered a separate letter in Spanish, and is pronounced like a strongly trilled “r” sound with multiple flaps against the upper palate.

The letter “r” sounds also like a strongly trilled “r” (identical to “rr”) when it is at the beginning of a word or after “l,” “n,” or “s.” For example, “rojo” (red) sounds like /rro-ho/ and “deshonra” (dishonor) sounds like /des-on-rra/, where the stressed syllable in the pronunciation script is in bold.

In Portuguese, the letter “r” is equivalent to the English “r” but rolled with a single flap against the upper palate, “caro” /ka-ro/ (expensive), except: at the beginning of a word, after a nasal sound or “l,” or when doubled “rr,” the “r” sounds like “h.” For example, “carro” /ka-ho/ (car), “rato” /ha-to/ (mouse), “genro” /jẽ-ho/ (son-in-law), etc.

At the end of a word, the “r” is sometimes not pronounced, e.g., “comer” /ko-me(r)/ (to eat). This depends on the regional variant of Brazilian Portuguese.

In Italian, the letter “r” sounds like English “r” but rolled with a single flap against the upper palate, similar to its pronunciation in Spanish and Portuguese.

In French, the letter “r” is equivalent to English “r” but rolled using the back of the tongue near the throat to form the distinctive French “r” sound, represented by the symbol /я/.

The letter “s”

In Spanish, the letter “s” always sounds like English “s” in “sea.”

In Portuguese, the letter “s” can sound like English “s” or “z.” If the “s” falls between two vowels or before a voiced consonant (“b,” “d,” “g,” “l,” “m,” “n,” “r,” or “v”), it is pronounced like “z” in “zoo.” Otherwise, it is pronounced like “s” in “sea.” In some parts of Brazil, the final “s” is pronounced like “sh” in “sheep,” e.g., “anos” /a-nosh/ (years).

In Italian, the letter “s” can sound like English “s” or “z.” In most cases, the following rule applies:

If “s” is between two vowels or before a voiced consonant (“b,” “d,” “g,” “l,” “m,” “n,” “r,” or “v”), it is often pronounced like English “z.” For example, “rosa” (rose) is pronounced /ro-za/. In most other cases, it is pronounced like the English “s” in “start.”

The compound consonant “sc” is used in Italian to form the equivalents of the sounds “sh” and “sk” in English:

1. If “sc” is followed by “e” or “i,” it is pronounced like “sh” in “sheep.” For example, “scelta” (choice) is pronounced /shel-ta/.
2. Otherwise, “sc” is pronounced like “sk” in “sky,” e.g., “scarpe” (shoes) is pronounced /skar-pe/.

The letter “h” is used in Italian to change the pronunciation of “sc” from “sh” to “sk” if the “sc” precedes an “e” or “i.” For example, “schema” (scheme) is pronounced /ske-ma/.

sc	+	“e” or “i”	“sh” sound	“scelta” pronounced “shel-ta”
sc	+	“a,” “o,” or “u”	“sk” sound	“scarpe” pronounced “skar-pe”
sch	+	“e” or “i”	“sk” sound	“schema” pronounced “ske-ma”

In French, the letter “s” can sound like English “s” or “z.” If the “s” falls between two vowels, it is often pronounced like English “z,” e.g., “rose” /яoz/ (pink). In most other cases, it is pronounced like the English “s” in “start,” e.g., “salut” /sa-lµ/ (hi).

The letter “t”

In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, the letter “t” is pronounced like an English “t” in “top.”

The only exception is in Portuguese before “i” or an unstressed final “e,” where it sounds like “ch” in “chip.” For example, “tia” /chee-ya/ (aunt), “brilhante” /bree-lyã-chi/ (brilliant), etc.

The letter “x”

In Spanish, the letter “x” is pronounced like “ks” in “socks,” e.g., “taxi” /tak-see/ (Mexico), and in a few exceptions pronounced like “h” in “home,” e.g., “México” /me-hee-ko/ (Mexico).

In Portuguese, the letter “x” has four possible pronunciations:

1. Like “sh” in “shop” at the beginning of a word or between vowels in most cases. Examples include: “xale” /sha-li/ (shawl), “xerife” /she-ree-fi/ (sheriff), “peixe” /pey-shi/ (fish), “baixo” /bay-sho/ (low), etc.
2. Like “s” in “sea” before “c,” “f,” “p,” “t,” or “qu,” e.g., “extra” /es-tra/ (extra), in addition to few other words, such as: “próximo” /pro-see-mo/ (next), “máximo” /ma-see-mo/ (maximum), “auxílio” /aw-see-lyo/ (aid), “sintaxe” /sĩ-ta-si/ (syntax), and “trouxe” /troo-si/ (he brought).
3. Like “z” in many words, especially the ones beginning with “ex” followed by a consonant or a voiced consonant (“b,” “d,” “g,” “l,” “m,” “n,” “r,” or “v”). For example, “exame” /e-za-mi/ (exam), “ex–marido” /ez ma-ree-do/ (ex-husband), etc.
4. Like “ks” in some words. For example, “taxi” /ta-ksee/ (taxi), “axila” /a-ksee-la/ (armpit), “complexo” /kõ-ple-kso/ (complex), “fixo” /fee-kso/ (fixed), “ortodoxo” /or-to-do-kso/ (orthodox), “óxido” /o-ksee-do/ (oxide), “reflexo” /ref-le-kso/ (reflex), “sexo” /se-kso/ (sex), “tóxico” /to-ksee-ko/ (toxic), etc.

In Italian, the letter “x” is not in the official alphabet but can still be encountered in some loanwords and acronyms, e.g., “xeno” /kse-no/ (xenon).

In French, the letter “x” often has a “ks” sound like “x” in “fix” or a “gz” sound like “x” in “exam.” The basic rules are:

1. If the letter “x” falls between two vowel sounds or at the beginning of a word, it often has a “gz” sound. For example, “examen” /e-gza-mã/ (exam), “xylophone” /gzee-lo-fon/ (xylophone), etc.
2. Only at the end of the numbers “six” /sees/ (six) and “dix” /dees/ (ten) the final “x” is pronounced like “s.”
3. In most other cases, the “x” has a “ks” sound, e.g., “taxe” /taks/ (tax)

The letter “y“

In Spanish, the letter “y” is pronounced like “y” in “yes,” or in some countries, it sounds more like “j” in “judge,” with two exceptions:

1.  At the end of a word, it is considered a vowel, e.g., “rey” (king) and pronounced as English “y” in “say.”

2.  If used as a vowel meaning “and,” it is then pronounced like “ee” in “see.”

In Portuguese, the letter “y” can only be encountered in loanwords and is often equivalent to English “y.”

In Italian, the letter “y” is not in the official alphabet but can still be encountered in some loanwords and acronyms, e.g., “yogurt” /yo-goort/ (yogurt).

In French, the letter “y” is considered a semi-vowel in one case, that is, when it precedes another vowel. In this case, it is pronounced like English “y,” e.g., “yeux” /yeu/ (eyes), “yaourt” /ya-ooяt/ (yogurt), etc. In all other cases, when it precedes a consonant or on its own, it is considered a vowel and is treated exactly like the vowel “i.” For example, “y” /ee/ (there), “cyclisme” /seek-leezm/ (cycling), “Yves” /eev/ (Yves), etc.

The letter “z”

In Latin American Spanish, the letter “z” is pronounced exactly like the letter “s.” In the Spanish of Spain, it sounds like “th” in “three.”

In Portuguese, it is equivalent to English “z,” except at the end of a word, where it can sound like “z” or “s.”

In Italian, the letter “z” is pronounced as “ts” (unvoiced) or “dz” (voiced). In general, the “ts” sound is used when the “z” is doubled or in the middle of a word, e.g., “pizza” is pronounced “pee-tsa,” and “azione” (action) is pronounced “a-tsyo-ne.” On the other hand, the “dz” sound is often used at the beginning of a word, e.g., “zio” (uncle) is pronounced “dzee-yo.”

In French, the letter “z” is always equivalent to English “z.”

The letter “ñ” in Spanish

The letter “ñ” exists only in Spanish and is pronounced like “ni” in “onion” or “ny” in “canyon.”

Double letters

In Spanish, the only case of a double consonant that one must be aware of is “cc,” as in words like “accidente”(accident). In such cases, one “c” is hard (k-sound) and the other is soft (s-sound), in a similar fashion to the English pronunciation. Note that “rr” and “ll” are treated as single letters, not double consonants.

A much less common double-consonant is “nn,” usually found in words having the prefix “in-,” as in “innavegable” (unnavigable), “perenne” (perennial), and very few other words.

In Portuguese, only double consonants that occur in Portuguese are “rr” and “ss,”, which are pronounced like “h” in “hot” and “s” in “set,” respectively.

In Italian, of  the 16 consonants in the original Italian alphabet, 14 consonants can be doubled, that is, all consonants except “q” and “h.” For example, “caffè” (coffee), “mamma” (mom), “nonna” (grandma), etc. They sound stressed with a short pause. Think of the “n” sound in “unnavigable,” or “one note” versus “one oat.”

In French, in most cases, other than “ll,” double consonants generally do not change the pronunciation. For example, “annuler” /a-nµ-le/ (to cancel), “essai” /e-se/ (essay), etc.

Silent Final Consonants in French

In French, the final “e” in most multi-syllable words tends to be silent unless it is accented. For example, “sucre” /sµkя/ (sugar), “père” /peя/ (father), etc.

In addition, the final consonant(s) is(are) often silent in many French words. For example, “trop” /tяo/ (too much), “temp” /tã/ (time), etc. The general rule is to assume that the final consonant is silent. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. The following notes can help you determine when to treat the final consonant of a French word as silent or pronounce it.

Pronounced vs. Unpronounced Final Consonant Rules

1. The letters “j,” “v,” and “w” are seldom found in French except in some foreign names, in which case they are likely pronounced.
2. The letters “b,” “k,” and “q” are found at the end of very few words in French. In most of these words, they are pronounced. For example, “club” /klµb/ (club), “biftek” /beef-tek/ (steak), “cinq” /sĩk/ (five), “coq” /kok/ (rooster). One notable exception is “plomb” /plõ/ (lead).
3. The letter “g” is generally pronounced when it is a final consonant of an English loanword. For example, “blog” /blog/, “iceberg” /ayz-beяg/, “parking” /paя-keeng/, “meeting” /mee-teeng/, etc. The main exception of this rule is when it forms the nasal sound “ng” in non-“-ing” suffixes. For example, “long” /lõ/ (long), “sang” /sã/ (blood), etc.
4. The letters “n” and “m” often result in a nasal sound when they come at the end of a word. For example, “un” /ĩ/ (a/an), “balcon” /bal-kõ/ (balcony), “nom” /nõ/ (name), “parfum” /paя-fĩ/ (perfume), etc. There are some notable exceptions such as: “abdomen” /ab-do-men/ (abdomen), “Amen” /a-men/ (Amen), “forum” /fo-яµm/ (forum), and “cadmium” /cad-myµm/ (cadmium).
5. The final consonants “c,” “r,” “f,” and “l” tend to be pronounced especially in short words of one or two syllables. The four letters are often remembered using the word “CaReFuL.” Here are some examples and exceptions for each case:

	Pronounced (Often)	Silent (Exceptions)
c	“avec” (with), “bloc” (block), “sac” (bag), “truc” (trick)	“estomac” (stomach), “porc” (pork), “blanc” (white), “tronc” (trunk)
r	“cher” (expensive), “clair” (clear), “fier” (proud), “mer” (sea)	Infinitive of “-er” verbs, e.g., “parler” (to speak)
f	“actif” (active), “chef” (chef), “neuf” (nine), “œuf” (egg), “soif” (thirst)	“clef” (key), “nerf” (nerve)
l	“avril” (April), “bol” (bowl), “hôtel” (hotel), “il” (he), “nul” (nul)	“gentil” (kind), “outil” (tool), vowel + “il”: “accueil” (welcome), “œil” (eye)

6. The final consonants “d,” “p,” “s,” “t,” “x,” and “z” are often silent with a few exceptions. Here are some examples and exceptions for each case:

	Silent (Often)	Pronounced (Exceptions)
d	“canard” (duck), “chaud” (hot), “froid” (cold), “grand” (big),	“sud” (south), proper names: “David”, “Alfred”, etc.
p	“beaucoup” (a lot), “champ” (field), “drap” (sheet), “loup” (wolf)	“cap” (cape), “slip” (underpants)
s	“bas” (down), “les” (the), “nous” (we), “temps” (time), “trois” (three)	“autobus” (bus), “fils” (son), “ours” (bear), “tennis” (tennis)
t	“abricot” (apricot), “et” (and), “minuit” (midnight), “petit” (small), “poulet” (chicken), “salut” (hi)	“brut” (raw), “est” (east), “ouest” (west), –ct ending: e.g., “direct” (direct), –pt ending: e.g., “sept” (seven)
x	“choix” (choice), “deux” (two), “époux” (spouse), “prix” (price)	“six” (six), “dix” (ten), “index” (index)
z	“chez” (at the place of), “riz” (rice), “parlez” (you speak)	“gaz” (gas)

7. As we will learn in Lesson 6 of this level, the third-person plural verb conjugation suffix “-ent” in the present indicative tense is always silent. For example, “ils parlent” /eel paяl/ (they speak).

Vowels

Let us now look at vowels in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. The letters “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” and “u” are treated as vowels in all four languages.

In Spanish, the letter “y” is considered a vowel when it is at the end of a word or when used as a conjunction meaning “and.”

In French, the letter “y” is considered a vowel, except when it precedes another vowel, where it is considered a semi-vowel.

Portuguese and French have nasal vowels, whereas Spanish and Italian do not have nasal vowels.

Vowels in Spanish

The vowels in Spanish are “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” and “u.” The letter “y” is considered a vowel when used as a conjunction meaning “and.” For example, “Adán y Eva” (Adam and Eve) where “y” is pronounced “ee” as in “beef.” The letter “y” is also considered a vowel at the end of a word. For example, “rey” (king), where it is pronounced as English “y” in “ray” or “say.”

Spanish vowels are classified as strong (a, e, and o) and weak (i and u).

Every vowel is pronounced separately, and each with its alphabetical sound. Thus, there are no diphthongs in the English sense. 

Vowels in Portuguese

The letters “a,” “u,” “o,” “e,” and “i” are the vowel letters in Portuguese. There are two types of vowels in Portuguese: oral vowels and nasal vowels. Both oral and nasal vowels can have a combination of vowel letters.

1. Oral Vowels

The five vowel letters in Portuguese have a slightly different pronunciation in Portuguese than in English. Notice that we use different symbols from the standard International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for simplicity.

Let us start with the main five vowels in Portuguese:

a /a/	“falar” /fa-lar/ (to speak)	always sounds like “a” in “father”
u /oo/	“muro” /moo-ro/ (wall)	always sounds like “oo” in “food”
i /ee/	“girafa” /jee-ra-fa/ (giraffe)	like “ee” in “see” or “i” in “marine”
e /e/, /i/	“cego” /se-go/ (blind) – open “seda” /se-da” (silk) – closed “noite” /noy-chi/ (night) – at word-end	1. open: like “e” in “bed” 2. closed (stressed or unstressed): like “ay” in “say” but without the final “y” sound 3. Like “i” in “kid” when it is unstressed at word-end
o /o/	“sobra” /sob-ra/ (leftover) – open “cor” /kor/ (color) – closed (stressed) “pato” / pa-to/ (duck) – closed (unstressed)	1. open: like “o” in “cop” but shorter 2. closed (stressed): like “o” in “go” but without the final “w” sound 3. closed (unstressed): like the weak “o” in “into”

– The Vowel Letter “e”

The letter “e” can have one of three sounds:

• An open “e” sounds similar to the “e” in “bed” or “set.” Examples include:

cego	/se-go/	blind
fé	/fe/	faith

• A closed “e” sounds similar to the “ay” sound in “say” but without the final “y” sound. Examples include:

seda	/se-da/	silk
você	/vo-se/	you (singular)

• Like “i” in “kid” when it is unstressed at the end of a word. Examples include:

mole	/mo-li/	soft
noite	/noy-chi/	night

If the “e” has a circumflex, that is “ê,” it is pronounced like a closed “e.” If the “e” has an acute accent, that is “é,” it is pronounced like an open “e.”

If the “e” has no circumflex or acute accent, which is often the case, knowing whether to use a closed or open sound is not always clear and it requires some practice and a good dictionary.

– The Vowel Letter “o”

The letter “o” can have one of three sounds:

• An open “o” sounds like the “o” in “cop” but shorter. Examples include:

rocha	/ho-sha/	rock
pó	/po/	dust or powder

• A closed stressed “o” sounds like the “o” sound in “go” but without the final “w” sound. Examples include:

boca	/bo-ka/	mouth
avô	/a-vo/	grandfather

• A closed unstressed “o” sounds like the weak “o” in “into.” Examples include:

cego	/se-go/	blind
sapato	/sa-pa-to/	shoe

If the “o” has a circumflex, that is “ô,” it is pronounced like a closed “o.” If the “o” has an acute accent, that is “ó,” it is pronounced like an open “o.”

If the “o” has no circumflex or acute accent, which is often the case, knowing whether to use a closed or open sound is not always clear and requires some practice and a good dictionary.

In addition to the main six vowels, there are 13 diphthong vowels. These are summarized as follows:

ai /ay/	“pai” /pay/ (father) “mais” /mays / (more)	Pronounced like the English word “eye”
au, al /aw/	“saudar” /saw-dar/ (to salute) “mal” /maw/ (badly)	Pronounced like “ow” in the English word “now”
ei /ey/	“lei” /ley/ (law) “rei” /hey / (king)	Pronounced like “ay” in the English word “day”
éi /ey/	“anéis” /a-neys/ (rings) “hotéis” /o-teys/ (hotels)	Pronounced like “e” in “set” followed by “y” sound
eu /ew/	“teu” /tew/ (your) “pneu” /pnew/ (tire)	Pronounced like “ay” in “day” followed by “w” sound instead of the “y” sound
éu /ew/	“véu” /vew/ (veil) “chapéu” /sha-pew/ (hat)	Pronounced like “e” in “set” followed by “w” sound
iu, il /eew/	“partiu” /par-cheew/ (he left) “útil” /oo-teew/ (useful)	Pronounced like “ee” in “feed” followed by “w” sound
oi /oy/	“noite” /noy-chi/ (night) “foi” /foy/ (he was/went)	Pronounced like “o” in “old” followed by “y” sound
ói /oy/	“sóis” /soys/ (suns) “herói” /e-roy/ (hero)	Pronounced like “o” in “cop” followed by “y” sound
ou /ow/	“sou” /sow/ (I am) “vou” /vow/ (I go)	Pronounced like “o” in “old” followed by “w” sound
ol /ow/	“sol” /soy/ (sun) “farol” /fa-roy/ (lighthouse)	Pronounced like “o” in “cop” followed by “w” sound
ui /ooy/	“fluido” /flooy-do/ (fluid) “fui” /fooy/ (I was/went)	Pronounced like “oo” in “food” followed by “y” sound
ul /oow/	“sul” /soow/ (south) “azul” /a-zoow/ (blue)	Pronounced like “oo” in “food” followed by “w” sound

There are also four triphthongs:

uai /way/	“quais” /kways/ (which ones)	This triphthong sounds like the English interrogative “Why?”
ual /waw/	“qual” /kwaw/ (which one)	This triphthong sounds like the English exclamation “Wow!”
uei /wey/	“continuei” /cõ-teen-wey/ (I continued)	Sounds like the English word “way.” Exceptionally, the “u” (and the “w” sound) is mute if preceded by “q” or “g,” e.g., “joguei” /jo-gey/ (I played)
uou /wow/	“atuou” /at-wow/ (he acted)	This triphthong sounds like the English exclamation “Whoa!”

2. Nasal Vowels

One main challenge in Portuguese is mastering the nasal vowel sounds.

A nasal pronunciation occurs in Portuguese in one of two cases:

1. When an “n” or “m” preceded by a vowel is at the end of a word or anywhere else in the word but followed by a consonant. To summarize:

at word end	vowel + “n” or “m”	nasal
anywhere else in a word	vowel + “n” or “m” + consonant	nasal
	vowel + “n” or “m” + vowel	not nasal

Notice that the “m” or “n” is not actually pronounced but is instead assimilated in the nasal vowel. If a vowel follows the “m” or “n,” the nasalization often does not occur and the “m” or “n” is pronounced. For example, “ano” /a-no/ (year), “como” /ko-mo/ (how), “cama” /ka-ma/ (bed), “amar” /a-mar/ (to love), etc.

2. When the vowel “a” or “o” is marked by a tilde, that is, “ã” or “õ.” For example, “alemã” /a-le-mã/ (German).

Nasal Sounds

The five nasal vowel sounds in Portuguese are: nasal “a,” nasal “e,” nasal “i,” nasal “o,” and nasal “u.” We refer to these five sounds throughout the lessons using the symbols: “ã,” “ẽ,” “ĩ,” “õ,” and “ũ.”

The five nasal sounds occur in the following cases:

ã, am, an /ã/	“ímã” /ee-mã/ (magnet) “ambos” /ã-bos/ (both) “antes” /ã-chis/ (before)	Similar to “an” in the English word “ant” but with a stronger nasal sound
em, en /ẽ/	“tempo” /tẽ-po/ (time) “vento” /vẽ-to/ (wind)	Similar to “ai” in the English word “paint” but with a stronger nasal sound
im, in /ĩ/	“sim” /sĩ/ (without) “lindo” /lĩ-do/ (beautiful)	Similar to “ea” in the English word “means” but with a stronger nasal sound
om, on /õ/	“bom” /bõ / (good) “onde” /õ-ji/ (where)	Similar to “o” in the English word “don’t” but with a stronger nasal sound
um, un /ũ/	“um” /ũ/ (a/an) “uns” /ũs/ (some)	Similar to “oo” in the English word “moons” but with a stronger nasal sound

In addition to the main five nasal vowels, there are five diphthong vowels. These are summarized as follows:

ãe, ãi /ãy/	“mãe” /mãy/ (mother)	Similar to “an” in the English word “ant,” but with a stronger nasal sound, followed by a “y” sound
ão /ãw/	“mão” /mãw/ (hand)	Similar to “an” in the English word “ant,” but with a stronger nasal sound, followed by a “w” sound
em /ẽy/	“trem” /trẽy/ (train)	Similar to “ai” in the English word “paint,” but with a stronger nasal sound, followed by a “y” sound
õe /õy/	“põe” /põy/ (he/she puts)	Similar to “o” in the English word “don’t,” but with a stronger nasal sound, followed by a “y” sound
ui /ũy/	“muito” /mũy-to/ (very)	Similar to “oo” in the English word “moons,” but with a stronger nasal sound, followed by a “y” sound

It is important to notice the following:

1. The “em” combination results in the diphthong nasal sound /ẽy/only when “em” is at the end of a word, e.g., “bem” /bẽy/ (well). If “em” is not at a word end, it is pronounced like a simple nasal sound /ẽ/. For example, “tempo” /tẽ-po/ (time).
2. The “ui” combination results in the diphthong nasal sound /ũy/only in the word “muito” /mũy-to/ (very, much). In all other cases, “ui” is pronounced as an oral diphthong vowel /ooy/, e.g., “fui” /fooy/ (he was/went).

Finally, there are also two less-common triphthong nasal vowels that only occur before “g” or “q”:

uão /wãw/	“saguão” /sag-wãw/ (lobby)	“w” sound + diphthong “ão” /ãw/
uõe /wõy/	“saguões” /sag-wõys/ (lobbies)	“w” sound + diphthong “õe” /õy/

Vowels in Italian

The letters “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” and “u” are treated as vowels, except when the letters “e” and “i” are used to indicate different pronunciation of a preceding “c” or “g,” as discussed earlier.

The vowels “a,” “e,” and “o,” are considered strong vowels, whereas “i” and “u” are considered weak vowels.

The week vowels “i” and “u” form the sounds “y” and “w” when unstressed and preceded or followed by another vowel. Below are some examples:

ai	“ay” sound	“zaino” (backpack) pronounced “dzay-no”
ie	“ye” sound	“ieri” (yesterday) pronounced “ee-ye-ree”
io	“yo” sound	“fiore” (flower) pronounced “fyo-re”
ua	“wa” sound	“guardare” (to look) pronounced “gwar-da-re”
uo	“wo” sound	“uomo” (man) pronounced “wo-mo”
au	“aw” sound	“audio” (audio) pronounced “aw-dyo”
iu	“yoo” sound	“più” (more) pronounced “pyoo”

Italian is considered to have five vowel letters and seven vowel sounds. Each of the vowels “e” and “o” has an open and closed sound. The differences are summarized in the following table:

o	open sound	like “o” in “cop”
	closed sound	like “o” in “go” but without the final “w” sound
e	open sound	like “e” in “bed” but a little more open
	closed sound	like “e” in “they” but without the final “y” sound

In general, the open sound is used when the syllable is stressed; otherwise, the closed sound is often used. Knowing when to use the open or closed sound can sometimes be tricky. The best way to master the difference is oral practice and referring to a good dictionary.

Every vowel is pronounced separately, and each with its alphabetical sound. Thus, there are no diphthongs in the English sense, except for the “i” and “u” when used as weak vowels to form the sounds “y” and “w,” respectively, as discussed earlier.

Vowels in French

The letters “a,” “u,” “o,” “e,” “i,” and “y” are the vowel letters in French. There are two types of vowels in French: oral vowels and nasal vowels. Both oral and nasal vowels can have a combination of vowel letters.

1. Oral Vowels

The vowels “a,” “u,” and “o” are considered hard vowels, whereas “e,” “i,” and “y” are considered soft vowels. When soft vowels come after letters like “c” and “g,” they dictate the pronunciation of that letter to be hard or soft.

The six vowel letters in French have a slightly different pronunciation in French than in English. Notice that we use different symbols from the standard International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for simplicity.

Let us start with the main six vowels in French:

a /a/	“parler” /paя-le/ (to speak)	always sounds like “a” in “father”
u /µ/	“mur” /mµя/ (wall)	This sound does not exist in English. Make your lips round as if you want to say “o” and say “ee” instead
o /o/	“trop” /tяo/ (very) – closed “corps” /koя/ (body) – open	1. closed: like “o” in “go” but without the final “w” sound 2. open: like “o” in “cop” but shorter
e /ə/, /e/	“le” /lə/ (the) – schwa “aller” /a-le” (to go) – closed “elle” /el/ (she) – open	1. like a schwa sound in English but more rounded, and sometimes ignored 2. closed: like “ay” in “say” but without the final “y” sound, sometimes spelled “é” 3. open: like “e” in “bed,” sometimes spelled “è” or “ê”
i /ee/	“girafe” /jee-яaf/ (giraffe)	like “ee” in “see” or “i” in “marine”
y /ee/	“cycle” /seekl/ (cycle)	like “ee” in “see” or “i” in “marine”

The letter “o” has a closed sound and open sound. The closed “o” sound is often used in the following cases:

1. The “o” is the final sound of a word. For example, “trop” /tяo/ (too much);

2. The “o” is followed by a “z” sound. For example, “rose” /яoz/ (pink); or

3. The “o” has a circumflex. For example, “hôpital” /o-pee-tal/ (hospital).

Otherwise, the open short sound is used. The open sound is similar to the “o” in “cop” but shorter. For example, “corps” /koя/ (body).

The letter “e” can have one of three sounds:

– Schwa sound

This sound is similar to the English schwa^* but more rounded. This sound is often encountered at the end of single-syllable words, such as “le” /lə/ (the), “te” /tə/ (you), etc. In multi-syllable words, the schwa pronunciation is sometimes optional and can be omitted. For example, “devoirs” /d(ə)v-waя/ (homework), “samedi” /sam(ə)-dee/ (Saturday), “acheter” /a-sh(ə)-te/ (to buy), etc.

* A schwa sound in English is the relaxed unstressed vowel sound that we encounter in some pronunciations such as “a” in “about” or “e” in “taken.”

– Closed sound

The closed “e” sound is similar to the “ay” sound in “say” but without the final “y” sound. This sound is often encountered when the syllable sound ends in a vowel. For example, the last syllable in the verb “aller” /a-le/ (to go) has the sound “le,” which ends in a vowel sound even though the spelling of the syllable ends in the consonant “r.” If the “e” has an acute accent, it is also pronounced with a closed “e” sound. For example, “clé” /kle/ (key), “désolé” /de-zo-le/ (sorry), etc.

– Open sound

The open “e” sound is similar to the “e” in “bed” or “set.” This sound is often encountered when the syllable ends in a consonant sound. For example, “sept” /set/ (seven), “elle” /el/ (she), etc. If the “e” has a grave accent or a circumflex, it is pronounced with an open “e” sound. For example, “mère” /meя/ (mother), “prêt” /pяe/ (ready), etc. The circumflex often indicates that the original word had an “s” in the source language that was later dropped as the language developed.

In addition to the main six vowels, there are some compound vowel sounds that result from different combinations of the six vowels. Some are familiar and easy to grasp, such as:

ai /e/	“faire” /feя/ (to do) “jamais” /ja-me/ (never)	Similar to closed “e” sound (especially at verb ends), or open “e” sound (in most other cases)
au /o/	“aussi” /o-see/ (also) “paume” /pom/ (palm)	Similar to closed “o” sound
ei /e/	“neige” /nej/ (snow) “peiner” /pe-ne/ (to struggle)	Similar to closed “e” sound or open “e” sound
ua /ooa/	“nuage” /noo-aj/ (cloud) “gluante” /gloo-ant/ (sticky)	This combination is pronounced as two different vowels, that is, “oo–a”
ue /we/	“manuel” /man-wel/ (manual) “usuel” /µz-wel/ (usual)	Exceptionally, the “u” is mute if preceded by “q” or “g,” e.g., “que” /kə/ (that/who)
ui /wee/	“pluie” /plwee/ (rain) “buisson” /bwee-sõ/ (bush)	Exceptionally, the “u” is mute if preceded by “q” or “g,” e.g., “qui” /kee/ (that/who)
ie /ye/	“tiers” /tyeя/ (third) “fier” /fyeя/ (proud)	Assuming it is not followed by a third vowel, e.g., “ieu” /yeu/
ia /ya/	“fiable” /fyabl/ (reliable) “social” /so-syal/ (social)	Assuming it is not followed by a third vowel, e.g., “iau” /yo/
ou /oo/	“pour” /pooя/ (for) “rouge” /яooj/ (red)	Pronounced like “oo” in “food,” unless followed by a vowel, e.g., “oue” /we/

On the other hand, the following compound vowels are tricky and are often confusing to English learners:

eu /eu/	“deux” /deu/ (two) “heure” /euя/ (hour)	This sound does not exist in English. Make your lips round as if you want to say “o” and say “e” instead. Depending on whether the “e” sound is open or closed, the “eu” sound can have an open or closed sound as well.
œu /eu/	“cœur” /keuя/ (heart) “œuf” /euf/ (egg)	This vowel is treated like the “eu” vowel.
eau /o/	“eau” /o/ (water) “beau” /bo/ (beautiful)	This sounds like a closed “o.”
ieu /yeu/	“lieu” /lyeu/ (place) “mieux” /myeu/ (better)	Combining the “y” sound with the “eu” sound.
iau /yo/	“sociaux” /so-syo/ (social) “piauler” /pyo-le/ (peep)	Found only in a few words.
oi /wa/	“armoire” /aя-mwaя/ (cabinet) “chinois” /sheen-wa/ (Chinese)	Pronounced “wa” and not like the English “oy” sound.
oue /we/	“ouest” /west/ (west) “jouer” /jwe/ (to play)	An exception is at the end of a word when “e” is silent, e.g., “boue” /boo/ (mud).
oui /wee/	“oui” /wee/ (yes) “jouir” /jweeя/ (to enjoy)	An exception is the letter combination “ouil” and “ouille,” both pronounced “ooy,” e.g., “bouillir” /boo-yeeя/ (to boil).

Notice that when the “o” and “e” are combined into one symbol, called a ligature, “œ,” they form a single sound. As we have seen, when followed by “u,” the combination “œu” has a sound identical to “eu.” This is the most common sound of the ligature “œ” in French. Here are four cases that produce the three possible sounds of the ligature “œ” in French:

œ + u /eu/	“cœur” /keuя/ (heart) “œuf” /euf/ (egg)	Preceding “u,” the “œu” combination sounds like “eu.”
œ + il /eu/	“œil” /euy/ (eye) “œillet” /eu-ye/ (eyelet)	Preceding “il,” the “œil” combination also sounds like “eu.”
œ + st /e/ (open)	“œstrogène” /est-яo-jen/ (estrogen)	Preceding “st,” the “œ” sounds like an open “e.”
œ + consonant /e/ (closed)	“œsophage” /e-zo-faj/ (esophagus)	Preceding any other consonant, the “œ” sounds like a closed “e.”

Finally, there is the dieresis, which can be found on “e,” “i,” or “u.” It is used on the second vowel of a two-vowel combination to denote that the two vowels must be pronounced separately. For example, “naïve” is pronounced /na-eev/, not /nev/, despite the “ai” combination.

2. Nasal Vowels

A nasal pronunciation occurs in French often when a vowel precedes an “n” or “m,” but not always. The nasal sound occurs when the “n” or “m” preceded by a vowel is at the end of a word or anywhere else in the word but followed by a consonant.

To summarize:

at word end	vowel + “n” or “m”	nasal
anywhere else in a word	vowel + “n” or “m” + consonant	nasal
	vowel + “n” or “m” + vowel	not nasal

For example, the “n” in “un” (a/an – masculine) and “anglais” (English) is nasal. On the other hand, the “n” in “une” (a/an – feminine) and “reine” (queen) is not nasal.

The three nasal vowel sounds in French are: nasal “a,” nasal “i,” and nasal “o.” We refer to these three sounds throughout the lessons here using the symbols: “ã,” “ĩ,” and “õ.” The three sounds occur in the following cases:

– The nasal sound “õ” occurs when “o” is followed by “n” or “m,” i.e., “on” or “om.”

– The nasal sound “ã” occurs when “a,” “e,” or “ao” is followed by “n” or “m,” i.e., “an,” “am,” “en,” “em,” “aon,” or “aom.”

– The nasal sound “ĩ” occurs when “i,” “u,” “y,” “ai,” “ei,” or “ie” is followed by “n” or “m,” e.g., “in,” “im,” “un,” “um,” “yn,” “ym,” “ain,” “aim,” “ein,” “eim,” “ien,” or “iem.”

Here are some examples of words that contain each of the three nasal sounds:

ã	an/am		en/em		aon/aom
	“blanc”	“ambre”	“encore”	“temps”	“faon”	“paon”
	/blã/	/ãbя/	/ã-koя/	/tã/	/fã/	/pã/
	(white)	(amber)	(again)	(time)	(fawn)	(peacock)
ĩ	in/im	un/um	yn/ym	ain/aim	ien/iem	ein/eim
	“vin”	“un”	“lynx”	“faim”	“chien”	“rein”
	/vĩ/	/ĩ/	/lĩks/	/fĩ/	/shyĩ/	/яĩ/
	(wine)	(a/an)	(lynx)	(hunger)	(dog)	(kidney)
õ	on/om
	“bon”		“sombre”		“ombre”
	/bõ/		/sõbя/		/õbя/
	(good)		(dark)		(shadow)

In the past, there used to be a distinction between the nasal sound from the combination “un” or “um” and the rest of nasal “ĩ” sounds. This is characterized by a fourth distinct nasal sound “œ̃.” However, this sound is no longer in use in much of France and has been assimilated into the nasal “ĩ” sound.

Syllable Stress

Knowing which syllable to stress in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, or French is critical to speaking comprehensibly and achieving fluency. The good news is that, unlike in English, where syllable stress seems more arbitrary, there are well-established rules in these four languages that eliminate the need for guessing. It is important to ensure that you master these rules early on as you build your vocabulary.

Syllable Stress in Spanish

Spanish is a phonetic language. If you practice enough, you should eventually be able to pronounce any Spanish word without listening to an audio transcription or referring to a dictionary. At the start, some beginner Spanish learners complain that most Spanish learning books do not have a phonetic transcription. They, hopefully then, realize that once you learn some basic rules, you will be able to figure it out more easily with sufficient practice.

The three main rules are:

1. If the last syllable is a vowel (a, o, u, i), “s,” or “n,” the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable, also called the penultimate syllable. For example, “factura” /fak-too-ra/(invoice), “joven” /ho-ben/ (young), and “lunes” /loo-nes/ (Monday). The stressed syllable in the pronunciation script is in bold.
2. If the last syllable is not a vowel (a, o, u, i), “s,” or “n,” the stress falls on the last syllable. For example, “azul” /a-sool/ (blue), “abril” /ab-reel/ (April), “hablar” /hab-lar/ (to speak).
3. If the word has a written accent ( ´ ), this overrides the two previous rules, and we simply stress the syllable that contains the accent. For example, the word “inglés” (English), if not marked by an accent, following the first rule, would be pronounced as /een-gles/. However, the accent on the second syllable overrides that rule and necessitates that we pronounce it correctly as /een-gles/. Other examples include “útil” /oo-teel/(useful), “habló” /ab-lo/(spoke), and “jóvenes” /ho-be-nes/  (youth).

The above three rules constitute the basic guidelines that should be practiced frequently as you read Spanish text. In addition to these rules, here are two less important rules to remove any confusion:

1. Spanish vowels are classified as strong (a, e, and o) and weak (i and u).
2. If the stressed syllable contains two vowels, one is strong and the other is weak, the stress falls on the strong vowel. For example, “reina” /rrey-na/ (queen), “igual” /ee-gwal/ (equal), “cielo” /cye-lo/ (sky).
3. If the stressed syllable contains two weak vowels, the stress falls on the last of the two vowels. For example, “viuda” /byoo-da/ (widow), “ruido” /rrwee-do/(noise).
4. If the stressed syllable contains two strong vowels, the two vowels are pronounced as two distinct syllables, also known as hiatus, and normal stress rules apply. For example, “europeo” /eyoo-ro-pe-o/ (European), “maestro”/ma-es-tro/ (teacher), “empleado”/em-ple-a-do/ (employee).

A word in its plural form stresses the same syllable as in its singular form. A written accent may be added or removed to enforce this rule. For example, the plural od “joven” /ho-ben/ (young) is “jóvenes” /ho-be-nes/, and the plural of “inglés” /een-gles/ (Englishman) is “ingleses” /een-gles-es/.

Syllable Stress in Portuguese

Portuguese is a phonetic language, and like Spanish, there are well-established rules to determine the stressed syllable. The three main rules are:

1. If the last letter is “a,” “o,” or “e” (after removing any final“s,” “ns,” or “m”), the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable, also called the penultimate syllable. For example, “fatura” (invoice) /fa-too-ra/, “bracelete” (bracelet) /bra-se-le-chi/, “falam” (they speak) /fa-lã /, etc. The stressed syllable in the pronunciation script is in bold.
2. If the last letter is not “a,” “o,” or “e” (after removing any final“s,” “ns,” or “m”), the stress falls on the last syllable. For example, “azul” (blue) /a-zoow/, “abril” (April) /ab-reew/, “falar” (to speak) /fa-lar/.
3. If the word has an acute accent ( ´ ), a circumflex ( ^ ), or a tilde ( ~ ), this overrides the two previous rules. We simply stress the syllable that contains the accent or the tilde. For example, the word “inglês” (English), if not marked by an accent, would be pronounced as “ĩ-gles.” However, the accent on the second syllable overrides that rule and necessitates that we pronounce it correctly as “ĩ-gles.” Other examples include “útil”(useful) /oo-cheew/, “fácil”(easy) /fa-seew/, and “médico” (doctor) /me-dee-ko/.

There are two exceptions to the last rule:

1. If a word has both a tilde and an acute or circumflex accent, the stress falls on the syllable with the acute or circumflex accent. For example, “bênção” /bẽ-sãw/ (blessing), “órgão” /or-gãw/ (organ), etc.
2. In words that have suffixes, e.g., “-mente,” “-zinho,” etc., the tilde does not indicate stress when it falls before the second-to-last syllable. For example, “irmãmente” /eer-mã-mẽ-chi/ (sisterly), “Joãozinho” /jwãw-zĩ-nyo/ (diminutive of “João”), etc.

Syllable Stress in Italian

In general, Italian is a phonetic language. Knowing which syllable to stress in a polysyllabic (having more than one syllable) word in Italian is critical to speaking comprehensibly and achieving fluency. The main syllable stress rules are:

1. If the last letter is a vowel with an accent, the stress falls on the last syllable. For example, “città” (city): cit-ta, “caffè” (coffee): caf-fe, and “perché” (why): per-ke. The stressed syllable in the pronunciation script is in bold.
2. Most other words in Italian stress the second-to-last syllable, also called the penultimate syllable.
3. Some words stress the third-to-last syllable. Most of these words end with the following suffixes:

-agine	-aggine	-igine	-iggine	-uggine
-edine	-udine	-abile	-ibile	-atico
-ico	-aceo	-ognolo	-oide	-tesi
-dromo	-fago	-filo	-fobo	-fono
-metro	-nomo	-gono	-grafo	-logo
-crate	-cefalo	-gamo	-geno	-mane
-stato	-ttero	-fero	-fugo	-evole

For example, “microfono” (microphone): mee-cro-fo-no, “fotografo” (photograph): fo-to-gra-fo, “sinonimo” (synonym): see-no-nee-mo, etc.

4. In rare cases, and often in some conjugated verbs, the stress falls on the fourth-to-last syllable. For example, “telefonano” (they call): te-le-fo-na-no.

Syllable Stress in French

In French, the stress always falls on the last syllable of the word. Here are some examples of French words:

“police”	“politque”	“aliment”	“téléphone”
/po-lees/	/po-lee-teek/	/a-lee-mã/	/te-le-fon/
(police)	(policy)	(food)	(phone)

If the words are strung together to form a phrase, the stress often falls on the last syllable of the phrase. For example:

une maison /µn me-zõ/	a house
une petite maison /µn p(ə)-teet me-zõ/	a small house
une petite maison blanche /µn p(ə)-teet me-zõ blãsh/	a small white house
une belle petite maison blanche /µn bel p(ə)-teet me-zõ blãsh/	a small beautiful white house

Liaison in French

A liaison occurs in French when a word that normally ends with a silent consonant is followed by a vowel or a mute “h” (but not an aspirated “h”). In this case, the final consonant is pronounced. For example, the word “trois” (three) on its own is pronounced /tяwa/, where the final “s” is silent. However, in the phrase “trois amis” /tяwaz a-mee/ (three friends), the final “s” in “trois” is pronounced as a “z” sound. Here are some more liaison examples:

les /le/ (the – plural)	les amis /lez a-mee/ (the friends)
un /ĩ/ (a/an)	un homme /ĩn om/ (a man)
vous /voo/ (you)	vous avez /vooz a-ve/ (you have)
très /tяe/ (very)	très utile /tяez µ-teel/ (very useful)
Je suis /j(ə) swee/ (I am/have)	Je suis allé /j(ə) sweez a-le/ (I have gone)
Il est /eel e/ (He is)	Il est ici /eel et ee-see/ (He is here)

Liaison Prohibition Rules

There are a few cases in which a liaison is prohibited. A liaison is prohibited before the following:

1. An aspirated “h.” For example, “les héros” /le e-яo/ (the heroes), “en haut” /ã o/ (up or on top), etc.
2. The words “oui” (yes) and “onze” (eleven), e.g., “les onze ans” /le õz ã/ (the eleven years).

Understanding all liaison cases can be complicated and may require some deep linguistic knowledge. Nevertheless, you simply need to recognize it when applied in normal speech. The above cases provide a good starting point and summary on the uses of liaisons.

A liaison is generally avoided or prohibited after the following:

1. The conjunction “et” (and). For example, “adultes et enfants” /a-dµlt e ã-fã/ (adults and children), “fort et utile” /foя e µ-teel/ (strong and useful), etc.
2. The word “toujours” (always), e.g., “toujours ici” /too-jooя ee-see/ (always here).
3. Singular nouns, e.g., “éléphant énorme” /e-le-fã e-noяm/ (huge elephant), “chat amical” /sha a-mee-kal/ (friendly cat), etc.
4. Proper nouns, e.g., “Robert est là” /яo-beя e la/ (Robert is there).

Next: Similarities to English

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