The Letters S and C

As is the case with most languages, the same letter can be associated with different phonemes — that is to say, the same letter can be pronounced in many different ways. You’ve probably noticed that Portuguese is no exception. Two of these letters that have many variations are S and C, so we’ll cover how to pronounce S in Portuguese and then how to pronounce C.

• Sucesso Play slow audio Play normal audio Success – In this example, different letters/digraphs (s, c, and ss) have the same sound.
• Concessão Play slow audio Play normal audio Concession  – Here we have the same letter (c), but two different sounds.

In this Learning Note, you’ll learn which pronunciation to use by paying attention to how the letter is positioned within a word or phrase.

The Letter S

Depending on where it’s placed, and the letters surrounding it, s can have 3 different sounds: 'se' Play normal audio , 'ze' Play normal audio , or 'sh' Play normal audio

• • ‘Se’ sound – At the beginning of a word or after a consonant (usually the letter n)

Sapo Play slow audio Play normal audio Frog
Sentido Play slow audio Play normal audio Sense
Sim Play slow audio Play normal audio Yes
Tensão Play slow audio Play normal audio Tension
Pensar Play slow audio Play normal audio Think

• • ‘Ze’ sound – Between vowel sounds it sounds like the letter z in English

Asa Play slow audio Play normal audio Wing
Rosa Play slow audio Play normal audio Rose
Isolador Play slow audio Play normal audio Isolator
Peso Play slow audio Play normal audio Weight
Riso Play slow audio Play normal audio Laughter
Temos água** Play slow audio Play normal audio We have water
Fomos hoje** Play normal audio We went today
**Notice in these last two examples that the same rule holds true in continuous speech, even if the vowel sound appears in the next word. In the phrase Temos água, the s at the end of ‘temos’ comes before the vowel á in ‘água’, so you hear it as a ‘ze’ sound. Similarly, the s at the end of ‘fomos’ sounds like ‘ze’ because it comes before the vowel sound at the beginning of the word ‘hoje’. (The consonant h is not pronounced at the beginning of Portuguese words, so the first sound is a vowel: hoje Play slow audio Play normal audio )

• • ‘Sh’ sound – Before a consonant or at the end of a word

Isto Play slow audio Play normal audio This
Pescar Play slow audio Play normal audio Fish
Poste Play slow audio Play normal audio Post
Barcos Play slow audio Play normal audio Boats
Ares Play slow audio Play normal audio Airs
Temos cerveja** Play slow audio Play normal audio We have beer
**Notice again in this last example that the rule holds true between words in continuous  speech.
Important Note: The ‘sh’-like sounds you hear in these words are not exactly the same. At the end of an isolated word, or before a “voiceless” consonant, it’s a subtle ‘sh’ sound (the IPA symbol is ʃ ). Before a “voiced” consonant (b, d, g, j, l, lh, m, n, nh, r, rr, v, z), it becomes “voiced” and sounds like ‘zh’, like the sound made by the ‘s’ in “pleasure” (The IPA symbol for this sound is ʒ ). To compare, listen to the examples below. The first two use the ‘sh’ ( ʃ ) sound and the second two use the ‘zh’ ( ʒ ) sound:
Postes Play slow audio Play normal audio Posts
Estas Play slow audio Play normal audio These
Mesmo Play normal audio Same
Os livros Play normal audio the books

The Digraph SS

A digraph is a combination of two letters that represent a phoneme. In this case, ss has the 'se' Play normal audio sound:
Impressionante Play slow audio Play normal audio Impressive
Passeio Play slow audio Play normal audio Walk
Sessão Play slow audio Play normal audio Session

The Letter C

The letter C can sound like 'se' Play normal audio , 'sh' Play normal audio , or 'que' Play normal audio , depending on its placement.

• ‘Se’ sound – If followed by the vowels e or i

Certo Play slow audio Play normal audio Right
Cinco Play slow audio Play normal audio Five
Conceder Play slow audio Play normal audio Grant
Pocilga Play slow audio Play normal audio Pigpen

• ‘Sh’ sound – If followed by the consonant h, it forms the digraph ch which sounds like ‘sh’

Chega Play slow audio Play normal audio Enough
Macho Play slow audio Play normal audio Male
Tocha Play slow audio Play normal audio Torch
Comichão Play slow audio Play normal audio Itch

• ‘Que’ sound – If followed by the vowels a, o or u, however, C acquires a totally different sound, being pronounced like the letter K

Cama Play slow audio Play normal audio Bed
Copo Play slow audio Play normal audio Glass
Curto Play slow audio Play normal audio Short
Banco Play slow audio Play normal audio Bench

• There’s also the letter Ç , called C-cedilha Play normal audio or C-cedilhado Play normal audio , which always represents the ‘se’ sound:

Cabeça Play slow audio Play normal audio Head
Coçar Play slow audio Play normal audio Scratch
Passadiço Play slow audio Play normal audio Footbridge

Mixing things up

Not surprisingly, even natives sometimes make mistakes and write ss instead of ç, ç instead of just c, or s instead of z, because they can all sound the same. Since the specific letter used depends mostly on the word’s origin and history, the only way to avoid those mistakes is to get enough exposure to the words in both written and spoken form.
Just for fun: some tricky examples to help you practice pronunciation!
salsicha Play slow audio Play normal audio sausage
Nós os dois Play slow audio Play normal audio Both of us