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Olá, queridos alunos! (Hello, dear students!)
This is Virginia, your Brazilian teacher.
In this lesson, you’re going to learn two simple strategies that will help you speak Portuguese with a Brazilian accent: word reduction and word linking.
Before we dive into this topic, it’s important to mention that there are many different accents in Brazil. In this video, I’ll teach the accent I consider to be the most common. At the end of the lesson, I’ll answer some frequently asked questions about Brazilian accents.
Since this is a pronunciation lesson, I recommend watching the video (above) and repeating the words and phrases out loud to practice.
2 Simple Strategies to Sound like a Native Speaker
1. Redução de Palavras
Let’s start by talking about phonetic word reduction (redução de palavras).
We call reduction the natural process of omitting the pronunciation of certain letters or syllables in spoken language.
Let’s look at the three most common word reductions you’ll hear all the time in Brazil.
A) The verb “estar” (to be) is commonly reduced in every conjugation.
For example:
Ele está – ele tá (He is)
Eu estou – eu tô (I am)
Nós estamos – nós tamos – nós tamo (We are)
Eles estão – eles tão (They are)
Eu estava – eu tava (I was)
Eles estavam – eles tavam (They were)
And so on.
For example, in spoken language, we rarely say:
– Eu estou em casa. (I am at home.)
– Ele está atrasado. (He is late)
The most natural pronunciation would be:
– Eu tô em casa.
– Ele tá atrasado.
B) The word “você” (you) is commonly reduced to “cê.”
For example, in spoken language, you will rarely hear someone say:
– Onde você está? (Where are you?)
– Você está onde? (Where are you?)
The most natural pronunciation would be:
– Ond-cê-tá?
– Cê-tá-onde?
An interesting observation:
normally, we don’t reduce the word “você” after prepositions or verbs.
For example:
– Isto é para você. (This is for you.)
– Quem é você? (Who are you?)
For these cases, there is no reduction.
C) The letters R and S at the end of verbs are also commonly suppressed when we’re speaking quickly.
For example, in spoken language, you will rarely hear someone say:
– Vamos lá! (Let’s go!)
– Aonde você quer ir? (Where do you want to go?)
The most natural pronunciation would be:
– Vamos lá! (Vamo-lá!)
– Aond-cê-qué-í?
Note that these word reductions are only used when speaking, especially in colloquial language. These reductions shouldn’t be used in writing.
Additionally, in formal spoken language, I recommend clearly pronouncing words and avoiding reductions.
2. Ligação de Palavras
Now let’s talk about word linking.
We call linking the natural process of connecting one word to another within a sentence.
Let’s look at three ways to link words that are very common in Brazil.
A) When a word ends with the consonant S and the following word begins with a vowel, we can link the two words, and the letter S should be pronounced like a Z.
For example, in spoken language, you will rarely hear someone say:
– Todos os anos. (Every year.)
– Todas as semanas. (Every week.)
The most natural pronunciation would be:
– todo-zo-zanos
– toda-za-semanas
2. When a word ends with the consonant R and the following word starts with a vowel, we can link the two words, and the letter R should be pronounced how it normally would be between two vowels.
For example, in spoken language, you will rarely hear someone say:
– Vou comprar uma bolsa. (I’m going to buy a bag.)
The most natural pronunciation would be:
– Vou compraruma bolsa.
Note that the words “comprar uma” sound like they are just one word.
Depending on the accent, some people would phonetically reduce the letter R in place of linking the words. For example:
– Vô comprá uma bolsa.
C) When a word ends with a vowel similar to the vowel at the beginning of the following word, we can link the two words.
For example, in spoken language, you will rarely hear someone say:
– Todo o mundo. (Everyone.)
– Gosto de ir ao Brasil. (I’d like to go to Brazil.)
The most natural pronunciation would be:
– Todomundo
– Gosto dirao Brasil.
Note that I used these two linkings:
– de ir – (d’ir)
– ir ao – (irao)
Why is studying this topic important?
Speaking with word reductions or linking one word to another in a sentence isn’t mandatory, but every Brazilian does it in one way or another, usually without realizing that they are doing it. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to understand what Brazilians are saying.
Studying this topic is essential to improve your listening comprehension and refine your Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation.
Students often ask me:
What Brazilian accent should I learn?
Is there a standard Brazilian accent?
The truth is, there isn’t one accent that’s better than another, and there’s no single standard Brazilian accent. Someone from São Paulo might say that the São Paulo accent is standard, while someone from Rio might say the Rio accent is standard. It’s all a matter of perspective.
I recommend that you don’t worry about learning a specific accent because you’ll naturally pick it up. Most likely, you’ll adopt the accent of your teacher, your friends, and the people you communicate with in Portuguese.
I also recommend not expecting to speak perfectly like a Brazilian, without any foreign accent. Honestly, that’s not realistic and it’s not important. Everyone has an accent, whether in their native language or a foreign one.
I have a mixed accent when I speak Portuguese because I’ve lived in many cities in Brazil. And when I speak English, I have a strong Brazilian accent. I’ve learned to take pride in my Brazilian accent because it’s part of my identity.
I hope you’ll also take pride in your foreign accent. You can become fluent in Portuguese and communicate very well without losing your foreign accent.
I’m saying all this so you don’t put too much pressure on yourself to lose your accent. However, it’s obviously important to have good Portuguese pronunciation to communicate well. If you pronounce words differently than expected, people might not understand what you’re saying.
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Até a próxima!
Virginia & Speaking Brazilian Team
