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Thanks! Basically the language and the rules are the same, but there are a few differences. For example, in European Portuguese, a silent 'c' and 'p' are often

Thanks! Basically the language and the rules are the same, but there are a few differences. For example, in European Portuguese, a silent 'c' and 'p' are often retained in words like "acção" (action) and "óptimo" (optimal), whereas in Brazilian Portuguese, these letters have been dropped to become "ação" and "ótimo". Also, there are some words that are different like the word for "bus" in Brazil is "ônibus," whereas in Portugal, it's "autocarro". Overall, european portuguese is more formal, and brazilian, more casual.

schoen 2y ago
Other differences that stood out to me in visiting Lisbon and the Azores: (1) European Portuguese usually fully preserves "tu" (including distinctive verb forms), while in Brazilian Portuguese, it's often only used in oblique forms "te" and "ti", or regionally as a subject but often with the third person verb form. For example, in much of Brazil you would see "você tem" (even when speaking to a close friend or family member); in some parts of Brazil, like in Rio Grande do Sul, you would see "tu tem"; and in Portugal you might see "tu tens". (2) European Portuguese uses "a" + infinitive where Brazilian Portuguese uses the present participle: "estou a fazer" versus "estou fazendo", or "está a falar" versus "está falando". This distinction is very strong and consistent. (3) Pronunciation can be very different. The first thing you would notice is that the <d> before <e> and <i> is not pronounced as /dʒ/ and the <t> before those letters is not pronounced as /tʃ/. So for example <diabo> 'devil' or <diagonal> 'diagonal' start with /dʒ/ in Brazil but with /d/ in Europe, or <sede> 'thirst' ends with /dʒi/ in Brazil but /dɨ/ in Europe. Or especially the adjective ending <-mente> will be /'mẽtʃi/ in Brazil but /'mẽtɨ/ in Europe. The word-final vowels in European Portuguese often seem to get dropped entirely (or to be pronounced very softly or briefly), so you might even hear that adverb ending as /mẽt/ (approaching French!!). I found it fairly challenging as a non-native speaker.
- rodrigodlu 2y ago
  The pronunciation is different inside Brazil, like some NY accents versus standard american english for instance, or when I try to follow someone from Texas versus someone from New Zealand. All your points are correct! Awesome observation! I'm from south Brazil, living in Rio, and I have some weird situations following people from the north when they talk fast. I need to spend more energy paying attention or ask again the same question, but it's a nice exercise. It's closely related to the immigrations, for instance the city I lived in the south had a bigger immigration from Azorians, along with different proportions of europeans on the entire state, including my (grand)grandparents from Poland. When I started looking at the cultural origins it made more sense, it's also a beautiful topic to look at.

schoen 2y ago

Other differences that stood out to me in visiting Lisbon and the Azores: (1) European Portuguese usually fully preserves "tu" (including distinctive verb forms), while in Brazilian Portuguese, it's often only used in oblique forms "te" and "ti", or regionally as a subject but often with the third person verb form. For example, in much of Brazil you would see "você tem" (even when speaking to a close friend or family member); in some parts of Brazil, like in Rio Grande do Sul, you would see "tu tem"; and in Portugal you might see "tu tens". (2) European Portuguese uses "a" + infinitive where Brazilian Portuguese uses the present participle: "estou a fazer" versus "estou fazendo", or "está a falar" versus "está falando". This distinction is very strong and consistent. (3) Pronunciation can be very different. The first thing you would notice is that the <d> before <e> and <i> is not pronounced as /dʒ/ and the <t> before those letters is not pronounced as /tʃ/. So for example <diabo> 'devil' or <diagonal> 'diagonal' start with /dʒ/ in Brazil but with /d/ in Europe, or <sede> 'thirst' ends with /dʒi/ in Brazil but /dɨ/ in Europe. Or especially the adjective ending <-mente> will be /'mẽtʃi/ in Brazil but /'mẽtɨ/ in Europe. The word-final vowels in European Portuguese often seem to get dropped entirely (or to be pronounced very softly or briefly), so you might even hear that adverb ending as /mẽt/ (approaching French!!). I found it fairly challenging as a non-native speaker.

rodrigodlu 2y ago
The pronunciation is different inside Brazil, like some NY accents versus standard american english for instance, or when I try to follow someone from Texas versus someone from New Zealand. All your points are correct! Awesome observation! I'm from south Brazil, living in Rio, and I have some weird situations following people from the north when they talk fast. I need to spend more energy paying attention or ask again the same question, but it's a nice exercise. It's closely related to the immigrations, for instance the city I lived in the south had a bigger immigration from Azorians, along with different proportions of europeans on the entire state, including my (grand)grandparents from Poland. When I started looking at the cultural origins it made more sense, it's also a beautiful topic to look at.