"Ela bebe água."

Translation: She drinks water.

[mynameisjohn]

Ela and Ele are really hard for me to distinguish, any tips?

[Paulenrique]

lets give it a try: ELA: The letter E is with an open sound, like the "e" in met (sounds like /éla/). On the other hand, ELE has a closed sound, like "e" in blend, and it sounds like /êlee/. got it?

[Danmoller]

I would replace blend for mAy. Its more accurate.

[vivisaurus]

I recently described the é sound in ELA (é-lah) as the a in battle (American English), and the ê sound in ELE (ê-lee) as the first "e" in benefit. Or something like that. =)

This is how Brazilian Portuguese speakers easily tell them apart--by the sound of the first "e" in ele or ela.

[r_i_l_e_y]

I (and many others) had this problem when we first started too. After some time it becomes easy to distinguish the two. For me, it's like hearing el-ee vs el-ah

[neca1098]

usually in latin foreign languages the "a" at the end is feminine and the "e/o" at the end is masculine. It takes practice and time. once you are exposed to the language enough you will be able to distinguish the feminine words and the masculine ones

[Gautaminair]

Bebo means drink and bebe also then what's the difference

[Luis_Domingos]

• Eu bebo = I drink
• Ele/Ela bebe = He/She/It drinks

[Afifahfifah11]

How to know when we use "drink" or "drinks" in bebe,bebo,bobo cause it so confusing

[Luis_Domingos]

You need to learn the conjugations for person + number. The one that aligns with "Ele/Ela" (the 3rd person singular) is the one you should use for "drinks" (obviously) and you should use "drink" with the rest.

You should probably get acquainted with a conjugation website: http://www.conjugacao-de-verbos.com/verbo/beber.php

[Robearsn]

Why does agua have an accent mark on the first a? Seems unnecessary.

[vivisaurus]

It shows us which vowel to emphasize. =]

[George.c.canada]

I noticed many Brazilians here but I was told this Portuguese is not the same as Brazilian Portuguese. Is that correct?

[Paulenrique]

this is Brazilian Portuguese indeed.

[George.c.canada]

perfect, as that is what I want to learn !