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Hey, there!

I’m glad you’re reading this. Contrary to popular opinion, understanding

the sound system is the most critical element to becoming fluent in any
language. I​ t took me about a decade to realize this, but it’s true.

This e-book covers the sounds of spoken English. So any sound that I
make (or any other native speaker, for that matter) is composed of one
or more of these sounds. That means that if you have any difficulty
understanding natives, speaking without getting stuck, or just a simple
lack of confidence; ​your problems can be traced back to a
misunderstanding of one or more of these sounds.

The point of this e-book is merely to introduce you the of the sounds of
English, provide real-life examples of each one, and give you some tips
along the way.

This is not intended to be a comprehensive examination of the English

sound system. There are plenty of books on the subject, believe me I’ve
read them. For the most part, they are dense and don’t actually help
you speak. If you really want to take your English to the next level, learn
which sounds you are having trouble with and how to physically correct
your errors, then check out S
​ ound School.

It was designed just for that. Honestly, an e-book (or even a 400-page
textbook) can’t teach you how to speak English more fluently. You need
more interactive and personalized training for that. Without further
ado, The Sounds of English…

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Table of Contents
Section I: Fixed Vowels
● /AH/
● /AW/
● /AA/
● /EH/
● /EE/
● /IH/
● /OO/
● The “Other U”
● Schwa
● /UR

Section II: Moving Vowels

● /OH/
● /OW/
● /AI/
● /EI/
● /OI/

Section III: Consonant Pairs

● /B/ & /P/
● /G/ & /K/
● /D/ & /T/
● /V/ & /F/

Section IV: Difficult Sounds for Brazilians

● /TH/ & /TR/
● Final /M/
● Final /N/
● Dark /L/
● American /R/

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Section I: Fixed Vowels

Fixed vowels are vowels that don’t move when you produce them. That
means that your tongue position stays the same. You probably don’t
think about it but your tongue moves a lot when you’re speaking. ​Not
with these bad boys. Let’s take a look.

/AH/ as in hot, drop, job

● Hot / Q
​ uente; Sexy
● Not / N
​ ão
● Job / ​Trabalho; Emprego; Serviço
● Rob / ​Roubar; Assaltar
● Drop / C
​ air
● Lock / ​Fechado; Fechadura; Bloqueio
● On / S
​ obre; Ligado; Aceso
● Wrong / E
​ rrado; Incorreto; Erro
● Gone / P
​ assado; Ido; Perdido
● Song / Canção; Música

This sound exists in Portuguese in words like c​ hato, rato, prato.​ In

written representations, the American “O” is oftentimes the Portuguese,
“A.” C
​ razy, right?

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/AW/ as in law, launch, office

● Law / ​Lei; Regra; Legislação

● Jaw / ​Mandíbula; Maxilar
● Draw / D
​ esenhar; Extrair
● Dog / ​Cachorro
● Fought / L​ utado; Combatido
● Taught / E
​ nsinado; Lecionado
● Caught / C
​ apturado
● Office / ​Escritório

This sound is very similar to the Portuguese “​ ó”​, like in ​“olha só.” T
​ he
most common mistake I see Brazilians make is separating these two
sounds and saying l​ aaahh-uuunched ​(not English), instead of launched
(lançamento).

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/AA/ as in cat, hat, apple

● Cat / G
​ ato
● Hat / C
​ hapéu; Boné; Cartola
● Bad / ​Mau; Ruim
● Sad / ​Triste; Chateado; Lamentável
● Happy / F​ eliz; Satisfeito
● Apple / M
​ açã​;
● Master / M
​ estre; Mestrado; Controlar; Senhor; Dono
● Disaster / ​Desastre; Calamidade; Fracasso; Tragédia; Catástrofe

This sound doesn’t exist in Portuguese, but it is a pretty easy sound for
most Brazilians to produce. Pretty much all of our students can say
happy. Or sad. If you can’t say happy then you’re probably sad.

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/EH/ as in bed, head, red

● Bed / C
​ ama
● Head / C
​ abeça; Chefe; Chefiar; Frente; Topo; Principal
● Red / V
​ ermelho
● Read / ​Ler; Compreender
● Said / ​Falado; Mencionado
● Dead / M
​ orto; Acabado; Defunto
● Instead / E
​ m vez

Very similar, to “​ é”​ in Portuguese, like ​“pois é,” b

​ ut sometimes with a
slightly lower tongue position.

/EE/ as in me, keep, beach

● Sea / M
​ ar; Oceano
● See / ​Ver; Enxergar
● We / ​Nós
● She / E
​ la
● Seat / ​Assento; Banco; Lugar
● Beach / ​Praia
● Keep / ​Manter; Ter; Continuar; Observar
● Neat / ​Puro; Simples
● Discrete / D
​ iscreto; Distinto; Separado

Same sound in Portuguese words like ​“e mais alguma coisa.”

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/IH/ as in sit, miss, this

● Sit / Sentar
● Kid / C
​ riança; Garoto; Garota
● Did / v​ erbo “to do” no passado
● Miss / P
​ erder; Sentir saudade; Errar
● Kiss / B
​ eijo; Beijar
● Shit / ​Merda

This sound does not exist in Portuguese. This one is really hard for
most of you guys. Physically, it is between the /EE/ and the /EH/ sound,
but the distinction can be hard to make. Most of my students literally
can’t hear the difference between the /EE/ and the /IH/ when I start
working with them.

That’s why so many Brazilians are running around calling bitches

beaches and taking shits on the sheets. Don’t worry, linguistic mistakes
are to be forgiven. We still love you :)

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/OO/ as in you, blue, true

● You / ​Você; Vocês

● Do / F​ azer
● To / P
​ ara
● Blue / ​Azul; Triste
● True / ​Verdade; Real
● Shoe / ​Sapato; Calçado
● New / N
​ ovo; Novidade; Recente

Similar to the /U/ sound in Portuguese, like tabú, Itaú, but with longer
duration and more lip roundedness.

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THE /OTHER U/ as in push, good, book

● Put / C
​ olocar
● Push / E
​ mpurrar
● Good / B
​ om
● Book /​ Livro
● Should / E
​ ventualmente
● Could / P
​ oderia
● Wood / ​Madeira

This one is very difficult one for Brazilians. You know a sound that has
the word “Other” in its name has to be hard, right? The tendency is to
make either round your lips too much or have your tongue position too
high.

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/Schwa/ as in fun, luck, above

● Uh…
● Um…
● But / M
​ as
● Nut / N
​ oz
● Sun / ​Sol
● Fun / D
​ ivertido
● Done / F​ eito; Terminado; Acabado
● Butter / M
​ anteiga
● Luck /​ Sorte
● Supply / ​Abastecer; Fonte
● Above / ​Superior
● Another / ​Outro

Ah, the enigmatic schwa sound. This sound is super relaxed, both in the
lips and the tongue. I like to call this our thinking sound, because it is
what we say when we have no idea what to say...uhh….umm...what was
I talking about? Oh, right...​Did you know this sound is the most common
sound in English? Weird, huh?

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/UR/ as in her, word, occur

● Her / ​Ela, Dela

● Sir / S
​ enhor
● Word / ​Palavra
● Bird / ​Pássaro
● Nerd / N
​ erd
● Occur / A
​ contecer
● Ensure / G
​ arantir

This sound can be quite confusing because technically it is an R-Colored

Vowel. That means that when an /R/ follows a vowel sound, the sound
changes naturally. It’s confusing, I know. For now, just recognize that
this sound exists.

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Section II: Moving Vowels

Conversely to fixed vowels, moving vowels are defined by “movement.”

So, physically, you are making two sounds...your mouth is starting in
one position and quickly moving to another. But this happens so fast
that we almost don’t notice it. Most moving vowels in English are very
similar to their Portuguese equivalents, so they shouldn’t be too
difficult. Let’s take a look.

/OH/ as in go, slow, road

● Go / I​ r; Partir
● No / ​Não
● Show / ​Show de música; Aparecer
● Know / ​Saber
● Slow / ​Devagar
● Road / E
​ strada; Rodovia
● Boat / B
​ arco

This one can be a little tricky for Brazilians. It is very similar to the /O/ in
Portuguese in words like h
​ oje​ or m
​ etrô, ​but in English we really like to
make this a long sound and round our lips a lot at the end.

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/OW/ as in now, out, power

● Now / ​Agora
● Cow / V
​ aca
● Out / ​Fora
● Shout / G
​ ritar
● Shower / ​Banho; Ducha
● Power / P
​ oder; Energia
● Tower / ​Torre

Same sound as in tchau, pau​ (like pau do Brasil, safadinho).

/AI/ as in die, try, why

● Die / ​Morrer
● Try / ​Tentar
● Guy / ​Homem
● Why / P
​ orquê?
● Imply / I​ mplicar; Sugerir
● Defy / ​Desafiar; Insistir
● Tied / ​Amarrado
● Nice / B
​ om
● Ice / G
​ elo

This one should be a no-brainer for you guys. It is the same sound in
pai, sai…

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/EI/ hey, say, wait

● Hey
● Pay
● Way
● Say
● Wait
● Late
● Great

Again, exists in Portuguese. Just like in the words, d

​ ei, tomei, pensei, etc.

/OI/ as in boy, toy, voice

● Boy
● Toy
● Soy
● Choice
● Voice
● Enjoy
● Employ

This one shouldn’t be a problem for you guys. Just like, “​ Oi!”​ in
Portuguese.

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Section III: Consonants Pairs

So the cool thing about consonants is that most of them have pairs.
This means the two sounds are exactly alike except for the voicing. With
pairs, it is a lot easier to memorize different consonant sounds.

/B/ & /P/

● Bay Pay
● Base Pace
● Bat Pat
● Bit Pit
● Big Pig
● Bull Pull
● Bear Pear
● Bet Pet
● Bore Poor

/G/ & /K/

● Game Came
● Gave Cave
● Great Crate
● Gap Cap
● Gash Cash

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/D/ & /T/

● Do Two
● Die Tie
● Dutch Touch
● Dare Tear
● Dear Tear

/V/ & /F/

● Vast Fast
● Vat Fat
● Vine Fine
● Veil Fail
● Vault Fault
● Vile File

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Section IV: Difficult Sounds for Brazilians

Not all sounds are created equally. Some exist in Portuguese, so they
are much easier for the Brazilian learner. Some have very similar
equivalents.

Others, well, not so much. The following sound combinations do not

exist in Brazilian Portuguese (for the most part), and therefore are
especially difficult. In my experience, over 90% of Brazilians have some
sort of difficulties with these sounds. Even the most advanced Brazilian
students still have room for improvement with most of these. L​ et’s have
a look.

/TH/ Sound

This one is really difficult for most Brazilians, because it does not exist
in Portuguese. The key here is to ​bite your tongue. ​You can really bite
it. I know, it’s weird.

Most Brazilians tend to make the /F/ sound, in which you bite your
bottom lip. Like my name: Foster.

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Or sometimes they make the /T/ sound, in which your tongue is simply
touching the roof of your mouth. Again, the key is to always ​bite your
tongue! ​Most of my students take about 3 weeks to really get this
sound perfect…

Try saying these words in front of a mirror and make sure that you bite
your tongue each time:

● This
● That
● Thing / ​Isso
● Think / P
​ ensa
● Them / ​Eles
● Mother / M
​ ãe
● Father / ​Pai
● Brother / I​ rmão
● Month / ​Mês
● Fourth / Q
​ uarto
● Fifth / ​Quinto

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/TR/

This sound is really tricky because it is technically a combination of

sounds. The tendency of most Brazilians is to make the /TR/ sound in
the same way as Portuguese, for example in ​três, treino, etc.

But in English, this is actually the /CH/ + /R/ sound. So imagine, the
sound in Tiago (with a carioca accent), and then put an American /R/ at
the end.

● Try / ​Tentar
● Train / T​ rem
● Trick / C
​ omplicado
● True / ​Verdade
● Tremendous / ​Enorme
● Trendy / ​Moderno

Final /M/

In Portuguese, you never close your mouth when you have the /M/ at
the end of a word. Say, t​ ambém. Y
​ ou see, at the end of the word, your
mouth is still open, right?

In English we never do this. We always close our mouths. So any word

with an /M/ at the end like ​come, from, some,​ m
​ om, system, problem, etc.
You will always close your mouth! Always!

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Final /N/

Very similar to the /M/, but instead of closing your mouth, you stop the
passage of air by placing your tongue just behind your teeth. Most
Brazilians have problems when they don’t fully stop the passage of air
and they produce more of a /eng/ sound like in também. Let’s take a
look at some examples.

● Then / E
​ ntão
● Men / ​Homens
● Win / ​Ganhar
● Than / ​Do que
● Man / H
​ omem
● Tan / B
​ ronzeado
● Ran / C
​ orrer no passado
● Run / ​Correr
● Fun / D
​ ivertido

The /Dark L/

In linguistics, we tend to divide the /L/ into two separate sounds: the
light and the dark.

The light normally occurs at the beginning of words, like l​ ight (or like) or
lábios, or Lula​. Brazilians don’t really have any problems with the Light
/L/.

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The Dark L is another story. It occurs at the end of words and is quite
different from its Brazilian cousin. In Portuguese, the final L tends to
take on the /U/ sound. So Brazil, is pronounced like Brazeeu.

This is a very complicated sound that requires a good bit of training to

really get it perfect. In the meantime, a quick little hack that seems to
help most Brazilians is to try to smile when you produce the “Final L.”
This will automatically help correct some of the extra lip roundedness.

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The American /R/

Ah the American /R/ sound, the bane of many English learner’s

existence. The /R/ sound is especially difficult for a couple of reasons.
First, it is very different than the Portuguese /R/. Really, they could not
be further apart. So the first challenge for the Portuguese speaker is to
disassociate the two R’s conceptually.

Secondly, the /R/ is a very different sound, even when comparing to

other sounds in English. It is what we call a liquid consonant, which
means it is a consonant sound that only partially closes the mouth, and
results in a resonant vowel-like sound. So unlike most consonants,
when producing the /R/ you never really close your mouth. This means
you should be able to maintain and hold the sound for as long as you
want. But before we get to that, let’s take a look at exactly how to
produce it.

So the most important thing about the /R/ sound is that your tongue
never touches the top of your mouth. So we always talk about putting
your tongue here or there, but with /R/ that doesn’t happen.

So this is really difficult for Portuguese speakers because with the

Portuguese /R/ like /para/, your tongue is touching the roof of the
mouth. It’s actually what we call a flap sound. Just listen and try to see
the difference. R
​ eally different, right?

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So because we don’t touch any part of our tongue when we produce
the /R/ sound in English, we can maintain and continue the sound for as
long as we want to. In Portuguese, you can’t do that. So if you have any
difficulty or confusion about this sound, make sure that you can
maintain it to ensure you a producing it correctly.

So how exactly do we produce it?

So technically there are two R sounds, one that normally occurs at the
beginning of a word, for example, read, red, right. And there is one that
occurs at the end, like there, bear, mother, foster, etc.
They are a little bit different but remember, in both sounds our tongue
is not touching anything. Ok so let’s take a look at some examples of
each sound.

Tecnicamente existem dois sons do R: um que acontece normalmente

no começo das palavras, por exemplo - read, red, right. E o segundo
que acontece ao final, por exemplo - there, bear, mother, foster, etc.

So let’s start with the R sound at the beginning of a word. Like “rest”.
With this sound, we can round lips just a little, and our tongue starts
near the front of our mouth, and then moves back when we are making
it. So it is a motion like this, rest, rest. And when you are training this
sound, try to maintain it for as long as possible. Rrrrreeesssst.
Rrrrrrressst.

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The /R/ takes a substantial amount of practice, so be patient and give
your mouth some time to adjust to this new crazy sound.

O /R/ tem que ter atenção e muita prática então, seja paciente e dê a
sua boca tempo para você se ajustar a esse novo - meio doido - som.

Some notes about difficult sounds for Brazilians…

To be clear, there are a lot more sounds that are especially difficult for
Brazilians learning English. For the purposes of this short introduction,
I’ve decided just to focus on the most common mistakes and the easiest
ones to fix.

Other difficult sound combinations and phonetic issues for Brazilians

include:

● The difference between the /IH/ & /EE/

● The Three T’s of English
● Vogal de apoio
● Speaking in the past with the /ED/
● Structuring phrases
● Thinking in English
● Speaking fast in conversations

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In ​Sound School​, we cover all of these topics and more. I personally
provided you with recommendations and personalized feedback on
each sound, until you are confident with your pronunciation.

It is our personalized language academy designed specifically for

Brazilians that want to improve their spoken English.

This is our flagship course and is the result of nearly a decade teaching
English to Brazilians. It is the only personalized pronunciation program
for Brazilians. We couldn’t be more proud of it.

-Foster hodge

Founder, Inglês Nu E Cru

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