Pronunciation: ã – õ

1. The ~ (til) above a or o indicates a nasal sound. They are very often followed by another vowel. Let us listen to a few pairs of words. One has the nasal sound and the other doesn’t. Can you hear the difference?

mão – mau = hand – bad Listen

maçã – massa = apple – pasta Listen

mães – mais = mothers – more Listen

Let’s have a look at more examples. The characters ã and õ will combine only with the following letters:

(1) ãe: Listen

mãe = mother.

pães = loaves of bread.

(2) ão: Listen

João: a male name.

cão = dog.

pão = bread.

(3) õe: Listen

soluções = solutions.

ambições = ambitions.

(4) ã: Listen

alemã = German (female).

lã = wool.

maçã = apple.

(5) ãi: Listen

This combination is rare. Here is one example:

cãibra = cramp (muscular).

2. The nasal sound doesn’t occur only with ~. Letters m and n preceded by a vowel in the same syllable will also have a nasal sound.

Examples:Listen

também = too, also.

lembrar = to remember.

dente = tooth.

vento = wind.