Difficult Business English Words for Portuguese Speakers to Pronounce
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Words with an ‘i’ sound in the final syllable
Portuguese speakers sometimes miss the ‘i’ sound in the last syllable of a word. Here are the most important business words to look out for:[/text_block]
credit
practice
debit
notice
traffic
profit
market
specific[/text_block]
/prak tiss/ /prakts/
/noh tiss/ /nohts/ (sounds like ‘notes’ when pronounced incorrectly)
/cre dit/ /credt/
/de bit/ /debt/ (sounds like ‘debt’ when pronounced incorrectly)
/pro fit/ /proft/
/tra fic/ /trafc/
/mar kit/ /markt/
/spe si fic/ /spe sifk/[/text_block]
Words with ‘cy’ / ‘ty’ / ‘gy’ / ‘dy’ on the end of the word
Portuguese native speakers often miss the ‘y’ sound on the end of certain business English words. On the end of the following words, there should be a strong and clear ‘eeee’ sound:[/text_block]
security
university
strategy
methodology[/text_block]
/se ku ri tee/ /se ku rit/
/you ni ver si tee/ /you ni ver sit/
/stra te jee/ /stra tej/
/me tho do lo jee/ /me tho do loj/[/text_block]
somebody
nobody
anybody[/text_block]
currency
quality[/text_block]
city
majority[/text_block]
community
economy[/text_block]
Plural forms and verb forms: Words ending in -ces / -ses / -ges / -zes / -ches
Portuguese speakers often miss the ‘-iz’ sound at the end of these words. This can feel quite unnatural and quite strange for an English learner, because it can sometimes sound like there is an extra syllable on the end of the word. However, if these words are not pronounced correctly it can affect the meaning:[/text_block]
prices
produces
notices
offices
introduces
-ses
advises
organises
exercises
-sses
businesses
processes
successes
-ges
manages
stages
changes
-ches
watches
approaches
teaches
-zes
sizes
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/prai siz/ /praiss/
/pro du siz/ /produss/
/no ti siz/ /no tsss/
/o fi siz/ /ofsss/
/in tro du siz/ /in tro duss/
/ad vai ziz/ /ad vai zz/
/or ga nai ziz/ /or ga nai zz/
/ek ser sai ziz/ /ek ser sai zz/
/biz ni siz/ /biz niss/
/pro se siz/ /pro sess/
/suk se siz/ /suk sess/
/ma na jiz/ /ma na jz/
/stay jiz/ /stay jz/
/chayn jiz/ /chayn jz/
/wa chiz/ /wa chs/
/a pro chiz/ /a pro chs/
/tee chiz/ /tee chs/
/sai zis/ /saizs/
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advances
choices
places
spaces
reduces
invoices
practices
invoices
performances
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rises
promises
apologises
criticises
summarises
advertises
supervises
enterprises
specialises
authorises
compromises
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pages
images
charges
engages
[/text_block]
reaches
launches
searches
attaches
researches
catches
finishing touches
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Past Tenses – Verbs ending in -ped, -ced, -ked, -ched, -ged
For these words, portuguese speakers sometimes pronounced the ‘e’ in the -ed ending. For the word ‘stop’, they sometimes say /stopid/ instead of the correct /stopt/.
For example, the word ‘stopped’ should be pronounced:
/stopt/ – here as you can see we do not pronounce the ‘e’ in the ‘ed’ ending. The ‘e’ is completely silent.
The incorrect version, which is sometimes used by Portuguese native speakers is /sto ped/ or /sto pid/. This incorrect version can be confusing, because it sounds like ‘stop it’ instead of ‘stopped’.
Therefore this can really change the meaning quite dramatically if pronounced incorrectly. Below are some classic important examples of this for business:[/text_block]
stopped
developed
-ced
reduced
advanced
financed
-ked
liked
worked
looked
-ched
watched
launched
researched
-ged
managed
changed
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/stopt/ /sto pid/
/de ve lopt/ /de ve lo pid/
/ree dyusst/ /ree dyuu sid/
/ad vanst/ /ad van sid/
/fai nanst/ /fai nan sid/
/laikt/ /lai kid/
/workt/ /wor kid/
/lookt/ /loo kid/
/watcht/ /wa chid/
/lorncht/ /lorn chid/
/ree searcht/ /ree sear chid/
/ma najd/ /ma na jid/
/chaynjd/ /chayn jid/
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hoped
cropped up
dropped
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faced
forced
replaced
invoiced
produced
practised
outsouced
[/text_block]
checked
kicked off
asked
panicked
attacked
[/text_block]
reached
searched
attached
approached
-ged
charged
engaged
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