A question for the Portuguese people?

Question

I wanna learn some portuguese (I have found it harder than spanish, but wanna give it a try). How would I know when 's' should be pronounced as 'sh' or like 's'. It really does confuse me. An what about when you get 'ei' in a word, how would I pronounce that like this word 'feira'? All help appreciated.

Answer 1

I think Brazilianist has well described the sound of "ei" and the Brazilian pronounce of S. As for how the Portuguese use it: S in the beginning of any word, like "salto" (jump), is pronounced like S in "sit" or "seaside". In the end of a word, its pronounce is close to "sh". Between vowels it reads like the S in "lose" or "rose". When found elsewhere in the word (before a consonant), it depends. "Susto" (fright) = soosh-too, "asma" (asthma) = aszh-ma. This is approximative phonetics, you`ll get to notice the subtleties after some hearing practice. Try listening to good Portuguese and Brazilian singers (choose CDs that include the lyrics). The brazilian accent, with open vowels, is easier to connect with the written text than the portuguese accent. In terms of sound, Portuguese is very different from Spanish, but otherwise whatever knowledge you have of Spanish will be useful in your approach to Portuguese. Have fun!

Answer 2

I know it says Portuguese people, but in case you care to know about Brazilian people too, the 's' is an 's' unless you live in Rio where they say their 's' like 'sh'. For the word 'feira', you pronounce it 'fay-rah'.

Answer 3

Siento muito, eu não posso traduzir isso. Isso é demais eu tomar.