Spanish and Portuguese

When I posted about things I have learned after living on this island for a year, I mentioned that Spanish and Portuguese are not the same.  A lot of people do suspect because they just do not know.  In fact, Brazilian Portuguese is different from that spoken where I live, in Portugal, just as Spanish in Spain is different from Spanish spoken in Mexico.  Well,  Sophia of Burp and Slurp asked if I would go into more detail.  

Some words are similar and knowing Spanish certainly helps out.  The problem is that they sound very different, so hearing words in Portuguese many difficult to pick up on if you are not familiar with the sounds.  It actually looks similar to Spanish on paper (for some words), but sounds, in my opinion, more like Russian.

Here are some pronunciation tips for Portuguese:
-Words are not (often) completed, so when it ends with a vowel, that will be dropped: Example, oito is pronounced oite

-The letter S is pronounce SH: Example, Festa is pronounced Feshta

-The letter t is pronounced closer to CH, so leite would be like the Spanish leche, but following the rule above, this word is really pronounced LATE, as in I am late for work

-The letter D is pronounced like a G but more like the word JAY (when followed by an E): Example, verde is pronounced VER-JAY and grande is GRAN-JAY

-The letter J is pronounced like how you would pronounce Zsa in Zsa Zsa Gabor, almost like a sh: Example: Queijo is pronounced CAY-SHO, but remember that words are not finished, so this is really CAY-SH

Now, I am no expert in Portuguese, so this is based on my personal learning and experience. 

Since this is a food and nutrition blog, I am going to start with some words for foods and related items.  I will list them in Portuguese, Spanish and English.  This was you can see how it may be similar or different from Spanish, and you can learn words in another language too.

ENGLISH=PORTUGUESE=SPANISH

Milk = Leite = Leche
Lettuce= Alface= Lechuga
Carrot= Cenoura= Zanahoria
Beet= Beterraba= Remolacha
Orange= Laranja= Naranja
Tomato= Tomate= Tomate
Cherry= Cereja= Cereza
Banana= Banana= Platano
Pineapple= Ananas= Pina
Spinach= Espinafre= Espinacas
Peach= Pessego= Melocoton
Strawberry= Morango= Fresa
Melon= Melao= Melon
Corn= Milho= Maiz
Potato= Batata= Patata
Wheat= Trigo= Trigo
Bread= Pao= Pan
Butter= Manteiga= Mantequilla
Yogurt= Iogurte= Yogur
Ice Cream= Gelado= Helado
Cheese= Queijo= Queso
Beef= Carne= Carne
Pork= Porco= Cerdo
Chicken= Frango= Pollo
Turkey= Peru= Pavo
Olive= Azeitona= Aceituna
Olive oil= Azeite de oliva= Aceite de oliva
Cookie= Biscoito= Galleta
Cake= Bolo= Pastel

Being a dietitian, and knowing some Spanish, I can navigate a grocery store, restaurant and food label pretty well.  These words actually came easy to me.  Over time, I will provide more information on the similarities and difference between the two languages.

Do you have any questions for me?  Any thing you would like to learn about Portuguese?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

HAHA - Porco :) that one is my favorite.

Kristen (swanky dietitian) said...

I didn't realize how different they really were. Thanks for going into more detail!

sophia said...

Loved this little tutorial! Thanks, Melinda! :D

I could say a Portuguese word all along! Well, I can say "banana" anyway. ;-p

Anonymous said...

Wow, who knew? Thanks for the info Melinda!

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