How to Pronounce the Letter ‘S’
Hello, dear students!
This is Virginia, your Brazilian teacher.
The pronunciation of the letter S varies depending on the following factors:
1. The position of the letter in the word
2. Which letters come before or after it
3. Regional accents
I’m going to talk about all of this in this lesson.
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Since this is a pronunciation lesson, it’s important for you to listen carefully and repeat the words out loud to practice. Watch the video at the top of the page to hear the pronunciation of each word.
How to pronounce the ‘S’ at the beginning of words
At the beginning of words, the letter S is pronounced as /s/.
Let’s look at some examples:
Sapo (Frog)
Suco (Juice)
Sol (Sun)
Simples (Simple)
How to pronounce the ‘S’ in the middle of words
In this case, there are many variations depending on the letters that come before or after it.
A) Let’s start by talking about the double S (SS), which is always found between two vowels in the middle of words.
In this case, the pronunciation is the same as the S at the beginning of words: /s/.
Let’s look at some examples:
Passado (Past)
Professor (Teacher)
Profissão (Profession)
Assistir (To watch)
B) Now let’s talk about how to pronounce the S between two vowels.
When we find a single S between two vowels, it should be pronounced like the letter Z. It’s a strong and vibrant sound: /z/.
Let’s look at some examples:
Casa (House)
Mesa (Table)
Rosa (Rose)
Brasil (Brazil)
C) Now let’s talk about how to pronounce the S between a consonant and a vowel.
When the letter S is preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel, it should be pronounced as /s/.
Let’s look at some examples:
Bolsa (Bag)
Salsicha (Sausage)
Cansado (Tired)
Ansiedade (Anxiety)
How to pronounce the S at the end of syllables or words
In this case, the letter S can be pronounced in many different ways depending on the accent. The two most common pronunciations are /s/ and /ʃ/.
For example:
Hospital /s/
Hospital /ʃ/
Some people also add an “i” sound between a vowel and the letter S:
Hospital /i ʃ/
When the letter S is followed by a voiced consonant, like M, N, B, or D, it can also be pronounced as /z/ or /ʒ/.
For example:
Mesmo /z/ (Same)
Mesmo /ʒ/ (Same)
Desde /z/ (Since)
Desde /ʒ/ (Since)
All of these ways of pronouncing are correct. They are accent variations.
These accent variations also happen when the letter S is at the end of a word.
For example:
Mas /s/ (But)
Mas /ʃ/ (But)
Some people also add an “i” sound between the vowel and the letter S:
Mas /is/ ou Mais /iʃ/ (But)
Again, all of these forms are correct.
Notice that these accent variations only happen when the letter S is at the end of words or syllables, meaning when there is no vowel after the S.
All the other cases I mentioned in this video don’t have much accent variation.
What is the standard pronunciation? Is there a standard accent?
There is no standard accent, and all the variations I taught in this video are correct.
But if you’re feeling confused with so much information, I have a tip:
You can always pronounce the letter S as /s/, unless it’s between two vowels, in which case it should be pronounced as /z/.
That’s it! It’s very simple. If you remember this tip, you will always pronounce the S correctly.
How to sound more natural when speaking Portuguese
Now I have another tip to help you sound more natural when speaking Portuguese.
When a word ends with the letter S and the next word starts with a vowel, we can link the two words. In this case, the letter S should be pronounced as it would be between two vowels, like /z/.
For example:
– Eu leio todos os dias. (I read every day.)
I can say the words “todos os” as if they were one single word:
– Eu leio todosos dias. (I read every day.)
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