23 Comments
on the "slower" read through, it sounds a bit like "ele" instead of "ela" to me... maybe it's just me
I do hear the difference, but I would understand it's hard to tell at the beginning
No, read = present or past tense, except that present 3rd person singular is "reads". There is a difference in pronunciation for "read" (present) and read (past) though.
so it seems like the 'm' of 'um' has fallen away entirely here? Is this standard? I have noticed that often when words end in 'm' and 'n', these consonants are often quite suppressed. The 'm' seems to come from farther back in the throat than English (where it's generate on the lips) - would this be correct?
You are correct, the 'm' sound comes from the throat, and you do it with your mouth closed. As for the consonant being suppressed, I don't think it's standard. In this case the "mmm" sound should be clearly heard, even if very shortly. As an European Portuguese speaker I could easily mistake the phrase for "Ela lê o jornal".
The "m" sound like the second m of "mom", its a nasal sound and every word ending with "m" sounds like these. Ps. There arent words finnishing with "n" in portuguese. Ps2. I'm brazilian and I wrote "o jornal", so its really unclear the m sound
It's because the final "m" is there to nasalize the sound. On some audio of Forvo I use to train myself, I hear a slight "m", and for some I don't hear the "m", but only the nasalized sound. http://pt.forvo.com/word/homem/#pt
What effect does the circumflex have on the pronunciation of "lê," or any word for that matter? "Ê" doesn't seem to be pronounced any differently from "e."
I'm getting the same thing. Mine says "Ela [Select word] um jornal" But the select word options are "leem" and "lemos"... Go home Duo Linguo. You're drunk.
eu leio,
tu les,
ele/ ela/ você lê,
nós lemos,
vós ledes,
eles/ elas/ vocês lêem/leem,
Lê - Eu, Você, Ela, Ele (single person) Leem - Eles, Elas, (groups of people - As mulheres, etc.) Lemos - Nós (you & other people)
Yes and no. Portuguese "a" (as in feminine of "o") means English "the" like you said, but in this case "jornal" is a masculine word so "the newspaper" would be "o jornal". "Ela lê a jornal" would be incorrect.
"Um" can mean both English "a" and "one".
Yes, but if you don't have a context where you are couting something, it always mean "a", and not "one". EX: I have only one apple, and you have two.
Um = masculine English "a". Uma = feminine English "a". Um jornal = a newspaper. "um" is used here, because it's a masculine word. Uma menina = a girl. Uma maçã = an apple (you notice that "an" doesn't exist in Portuguese, but only in English. A/An = um and A/An = uma.
The apple = a maçã (Portuguese "a" because maçã is feminine) The boy = o menino ("o" because menino is masculine.)
