A Comparative Vocabulary Guide: Spanish to English to Portuguese. Robert D. O'Brian

      X: as sh in shoe

      Y: as y in yell

      Z: as z in zero

      There are 4 defined ‘qualities’ of Portuguese vowels, known as open, close, reduced, and nasal.

      When the vowel has a circumflex over it (^), close quality; with an acute accent over it (´ ), open quality, (usually the acute é is pronounced as more as ‘ay’); a tilde (~) over a vowel has a nasal pronunciation as does the letter m or n after a vowel. When a word ends with a vowel, or starts with an ‘e’, you would normally use the reduced quality unless there is an accent to indicate otherwise. However, an ‘e’ at the end of a word, followed by a vowel at the start of the next word, normally requires the ‘e’ to become more ‘close’, as the ‘e’ in ‘people’ (this is for ease of articulation).

      The signs and symbols appearing in this guide are identified as follows:

      (A) = the feminine ending

      (f) = feminine

      (m) = masculine

      (n) = noun

      (adj) = adjective

      (adv) = adverb

      ó = or

      ú = or

      sthg = something

      sb = somebody

      s = plural

      (AERO) = aeronautics

      (AGRIC) = agriculture

      (ANAT) = anatomical

      (ARCHIT) = architecture

      (ARTE) = art, artistic

      (ASTROL) = astrology

      (ASTRON) = astronomy

      (AUTO) = automotive

      (BIOL) = biology

      (BOT) = botany

      (CINE) = cinema

      (COM) = commercial

      (DEP) = sports

      (DER) = legal

      (ECON) = economics

      (ELECTR) = electrical

      (FIN) = financial

      (FIS) = physics

      (FOTO) = photography

      (GEN) = general meaning

      (GEOG) = geography

      (GEOL) = geology

      (GRAM) = grammar

      (INFORM) = inf. technology

      (LITER) = literature

      (MAT) = mathematics

      (MECAN) = mechanical

      (MED) = medical

      (METEO) = meteorologiacal

      (MIL) = military

      (MUS) = music

      (NAUT) = nautical

      (POL) = politics

      (QUIM) = chemistry

      (RELIG) = religion

      (TECNOL) = technology

      (ZOOL) = zoology

      A

      Interchangeable words and their Portuguese equivalents

      Palabras intercambiables y sus equivalentes en Portugués

      Palavras intercambiáveis e seus equivalentes em Português

      ABDOMINAL

      ABDOMINAL

      ACNÉ

      ACNE

      ACRE; also can mean caustic, bitter, pungent, acrid

      ACRE; acrid, harsh

      ADAGIO

      ADÁGIO

      AD HOC

      AD HOC

      ADVERBIAL

      ADVERBIAL

      AGENDA; work schedule; diary, directory

      AGENDA

      AIRBAG

      AIRBAG

      ALBINO (A)

      ALBINO (A)

      ÁLBUM, stamps, photos

      ÁLBUM

      ALGA, alga, seaweed

       ALGA

      ÁLGEBRA

      ÁLGEBRA

      ALTAR

      ALTAR

      ALTER EGO

      ALTER EGO

      AMEBA ó AMOEBA

      AMEBA

      AMNESIA

      AMNÉSIA

      AMORAL

      AMORAL

      ANAL

      ANAL

      ANCESTRAL

      ANCESTRAL

      ANEMIA

      ANEMIA

      ANGELICAL, angelic

      ANGELICAL

      ANGINA

      ANGINA

      ANGORA

      ANGORÁ

      ANIMAL

      ANIMAL (adj)

      ANOREXIA

      ANOREXIA

      ANTENATAL, prenatal

      ANTENATAL

      ANTICLÍMAX

      ANTICLÍMAX

      ANTISOCIAL

      ANTI-SOCIAL

      APACHE, Apache Indian

      APACHE

      APARTHEID

      APARTHEID

      ARDOR; heartburn (MED)

      ARDOR

      ÁREA

      ÁREA

      ARIA

      ÁRIA

      AROMA

      AROMA

      ART DECO

      ARTE DECO

      ARTERIAL; also means a principal road

      ARTERIAL

      ARTIFICIAL

      ARTIFICIAL; also means false

      ASTRAL

      ASTRAL

      ATLAS

      ATLAS

      ATONAL

      ATONAL

      AU PAIR

      AU PAIR

      AUDIO

      ÁUDIO

      AUDIOVISUAL

      AUDIOVISUAL

      AUDITOR (A)

      AUDITOR