Rhotic Sounds in Portuguese

In standard European Portuguese, the letter r renders 2 sounds: /ɾ/ and /R/.

/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 in between other letters of which one a least must be a vowel (and as long as r is 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 alveolar tap 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