"Uma mulher come uma maçã."
Translation:A woman eats an apple.
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Could someone please tell me what's the difference in pronunciation between "c" and "ç" ?
The letter 'c' has different pronunciations depending on the vowel it's with:
ca = /ka/; ce = /se/; ci = /si/; co = /ko/; cu = /ku/ (be careful with the last one)
Examples: casa = /káza/; cebola = /sebôla/; cinema = /sinêma/; cozinha = /kozíña/; cume = /kúme/
As you can see, the 'k' sound only appears with the vowels "a", "o" and "u".
Sometimes, in Portuguese, there are words with "c" syllables which would naturally sound like a "k" but we want them to sound like an "s". In that case, we add a little "tail" in the letter 'c' (called "cedilha"), forming the letter 'ç' (ce-cedilha), which basically is a variation of 'c' that sounds like an 's' when it's with an "o", "a" or "u", instead of having a 'k' sound. Because of this, there are only three possible combinations of letters in which "ç" appears:
ça = /sa/; ço = /so/; çu = /su/
Examples: onça = /õsa/; abraço = /abráso/; açúcar = /asúkar/
Logically, the combinations "çe" and "çi" will never ever ever ever exist! And something else important about "ç" is that it never ever ever ever goes in the beginning of the word!
Logically, the combinations "ça" and "çi" will never ever ever ever exist!
Do you mean "çe" instead of "ça"?
Does maçã stress go in the ma or the çã? Alone, the stress in pronunciation is in ma, but in the sentence it is in çã. Does the placement of stress not matter in this particular instance or in all in Portuguese?
Heres a website that will do wonders with this kind of thing: forvo.com. It actually has about 10 pronunciations for maçã already.
Anyways, stress appears to be on that second syllable. Another difference, too, appears to be that it is a nasalized vowel (open the airway to your nose when saying it—French does this a heck of a lot). Just in case that helps out.
Why does it insist that it needs to be "one woman eats an apple"? I tried "a woman eats an apple" and it didn't work
That sounds like a glitch you should report. It really ought to be "a woman".
Apparently saying "the" instead of "one" is wrong- but they both mean the same word!
They do not mean the same thing. "A/an" is the indefinite article. "I saw a dog" means I saw some random, unspecified dog, and I may or may not have seen anything else relevant. "One" is a cardinal number. "I saw one dog" means I saw exactly one dog, and that's it. "The" is the definite article. "I saw the dog" means either "I saw that one and only dog that exists" or "I saw that particular dog I mentioned earlier."