Ela and Ele
Every time I do a lesson I keep getting these two mixed up. How do you discern the pronunciation between the two?
13 Comments
Ele seems like Aylee. (http://pt.forvo.com/word/ele/#pt - look for Sirasp's pronunciation, thatra's is the second best. The others are TOO european)
Ela sounds like Ellah. (http://pt.forvo.com/word/ela/#pt - look for thatra's pronunciation, Flowerchild's is the second best, the other is European)
I guess you mean you can't hear the difference. There is some advice here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1438915.
If you mean by pronunciation, ela sounds more like the name "ella", and ele sounds more the the name "ellie", But both with an accent
Maybe this can help you: check out how native speakers pronounce it: ela: http://www.forvo.com/word/ela/#pt ele: http://www.forvo.com/word/ele/#pt (European is different).
I don't think that I completely understand your question, but if you're talking about hearing the difference in fast conversation, I would suggest using context clues in conversation. For example, if you have been talking about João in a situation, it would be weird to think the other person said ela unless João interacted with a girl and she has previously been discussed in conversation. For example, João falava com a Maria todos os dias. Ela gostou realmente dele. Also, I would suggest you look at the adjectives in the sentences. If the adjectives end in -o/-os, the other person is referring to ele. Sorry if I did not understand your question!
Thanks for the advice. My only problem is telling the pronunciation apart not the meanings.
I had two problems with the pronunciation of "ela" and "ele."
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Recognizing and using the two different vowel sounds for "e", as others have already explained here. They sound very different!
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Using the correct syllable break. I had been incorrectly saying "el.a" and "el.e." I wasn't getting the vowel sounds right, because the "l" was interfering too much with the first "e".
It should be "e.la" and "e.le." I know this sounds trivial, but once you separate the first "e" from the "l," it can make a difference in your pronunciation.
A practice exercise that I found in a book was to start with the second syllable, then do a long chain of them, like this:
For "ela": la.e la.e la.e la.e.........ela" And for "ele" it is "li.e li.e li.e li.e.....ele" (the "li" is pronounced as Portuguese "li," of course).
Yes, I know it looks ridiculous, but doing this really helped me a lot because I finally was able to hear the difference.
