Rhotic Sounds in European Portuguese

Rhotic sounds, often referred to as ‘r’ sounds, are a defining feature of European Portuguese pronunciation.

In short, in European Portuguese, the letter ‘r’ produces 2 sounds:

• [ɾ] Alveolar tap
• [R] Uvular trill

Let’s take a closer look at when to pronounce each sound.

/ɾ/ – Alveolar tap

To make this sound, the tip of your tongue should be hovering on the hard palate and flip once as you voice out and the air comes through.

Here are the spelling patterns associated with the alveolar tap sound:

• ‘r’ between other letters, with at least one being a vowel and not preceded by ‘n’ or ‘l’ → e.g.  largo, magro, arame 
• ‘r’ at the end → e.g. colar, por

/R/ – Uvular trill

To make this sound, narrow the passage between your larynx and uvula so that the latter vibrates against the larynx wall as you voice out and the air comes through.

Here are the spelling patterns associated with the uvular trill sound:

• ‘r’ at the start → e.g.  rua, raspadinha 
•  ‘r’ preceded by ‘l’ or ‘n’ → e.g. tenro, guelra
• double ‘r’ in between vowels → e.g. bizarro, correto