American Accent Decoded

Your first language

The American accent for Portuguese speakers

Your English is already good. If Portuguese is your first language, these are the American patterns worth your time first, and why.

Start with these patterns

Can and can’t mean opposite things, and in Brazilian Portuguese an R at the start can sound like H, a vowel can follow a last T, and a vowel before the strong part may be said in full.

  1. R is never rolled

    R touches nothingD touches once

    If your tongue tip touches, even once, hiring sounds like hiding.

    If you speak Portuguese, an R at the start is not an H: red, not head; right, not height.

  2. T stops, with no air

    T + pause · consonant → stops

    Your tongue goes up for the T and stays: no air comes out. Before an N, a T or D stops too: button, didn’t.

    If you speak Portuguese, stop on the T. Don’t add an “ee” after it: what, not “whatchee”.

  3. Can or can’t?

    can + verb → kuhncan't → can't

    Can’t is strong, with the A in cat, and its T often stops.

    If you speak Portuguese, say can’t with the A in cat. Not “Kent”, and not “cahnt”.

  4. Any vowel can become “uh”

    vowel in a quick part → uh

    An -le at the end sounds like “uhl”: table.

    If you speak Portuguese, this “uh” is close to the last A in “casa”. Use it in quick parts: about, today.

Then, for clear pronunciation

Portuguese has fewer vowels, a vowel can follow -ed, and school starts on the S, with no vowel before it.

  1. Ship or sheep?

    i shortee long

    Your mouth is relaxed for ship, with a little smile for sheep.

    If you speak Portuguese, ship and sheep may sound the same to you. Make sheep long, with a smile, and ship short.

  2. Bed or bad?

    e half-opena wide

    For bad, drop your jaw low, and make the vowel longer.

    If you speak Portuguese, open wide for bad, so it doesn’t sound like bed.

  3. -ed has three sounds

    P · K · F · S · SH · CH + -ed → tother sounds + -ed → dT · D + -ed → id

    Look at the sound before it, not the letter: laugh ends in an F sound.

    If you speak Portuguese, you may add a vowel: “work-ed” or “workt-ee”. But worked is one part: “workt”.

  4. Finish the word, add no vowel

    last sound → said

    Without its T, note is no. With an added vowel, sport is support.

    If you speak Portuguese, you may add an “e” before the S: “eschool”. Start on the S: school, state.

What you likely do already

Portuguese gives you a head start on: T becomes a quick D.

Another first language · All 69 patterns